SA's G20 leadership: A mixed bag for the Global South

SOUTH Africa’s G20 leadership concludes with the apex G20 Leadership Summit taking place on November 22-23 in Johannesburg.

- ASHRAF PATEL

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa receives the G20 Task Team Report on Inequality from Professor Joseph Stiglitz during an official handover ceremony at Tuynhuys in Cape Town on November 4.

(GCIS)

It has been a rollercoaster ride from the get-go with the Trump 2.0 trade shocks, bullying South Africa and Nigeria in Africa’s G20 year, with the US downgrading its G20 commitments. This period was also marked by the intensification of civil wars and electoral violence on the African continent.

Media narratives and coverage of G20 and reporting of G20 events have failed to connect their relevance to everyday struggles — from the high cost of living or need for AI regulation against social media harms, or climate finance and energy access.

Brazil’s 2024 G20 agenda was bold and managed to secure solid commitments on ultra-rich tax commitment and a Global Compact on Hunger and Inequality. There was the appointment of two noteworthy Expert Groups on Finance, chaired by Trevor Manuel, and Inequality, chaired by Dr Joseph Stiglitz, in addition to the dozens of meetings held by ministers to craft communiques.

Global finance reform is the genesis of the G20’s DNA and this is the great test for the forum. Despite numerous finance and central bank meetings, there are no concrete commitments on core issues such as IMF reforms and the actual write-off of the debts in the poorest African nations.