South Africa’s partial G20 success in 2025

South Africa's 2025 G20 presidency has partially succeeded in raising global awareness of Africa's difficulties in accessing affordable development finance, though it has failed to secure concrete agreements on IMF reform or the restructuring of the G20 Common Framework. The document highlights systemic barriers including credit rating agency practices and the slow, creditor-biased nature of debt restructuring for countries like Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia. To maintain momentum, South Africa has established an African Expert Panel to advise President Cyril Ramaphosa on technical recommendations for finance and IMF governance.

• South Africa's G20 presidency has been partially successful in increasing global awareness regarding the obstacles African nations face in securing stable and affordable development finance, which is necessary for sustainable development and climate goals.
• Several systemic factors hinder Africa's access to finance, including the practices of credit rating agencies, legal and regulatory issues regarding risk and fiduciary duties, IMF and World Bank debt sustainability analyses, and a lack of transparency in debt transactions.
• The G20's Common Framework for debt restructuring is viewed as structurally biased toward creditors, slow, and unpredictable, as evidenced by the experiences of Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia.
• Despite South Africa raising the profile of the need for IMF reform to make the institution fit for the current era, the G20 presidency is expected to conclude without a formal agreement on how to implement these changes.
• President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed an African Expert Panel, led by Trevor Manuel, to provide advice and potential recommendations for a technical committee to report on finance barriers in 2026 and propose IMF reforms.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2025). South Africa’s partial G20 success in 2025. https://saiia.org.za/research/south-africas-partial-g20-success-in-2025/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. South Africa’s partial G20 success in 2025. 2025. https://saiia.org.za/research/south-africas-partial-g20-success-in-2025/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=South Africa’s partial G20 success in 2025 |date=27 November 2025 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/south-africas-partial-g20-success-in-2025/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2025south, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{South Africa’s partial G20 success in 2025}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/south-africas-partial-g20-success-in-2025/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }