Africa’s Voice at the G20: Will Johannesburg Deliver?

This research paper analyzes South Africa's G20 presidency, focusing on its efforts to advance African priorities and the broader Global South development agenda amidst a challenging geopolitical climate. The author evaluates four primary priorities—debt sustainability, climate and energy transitions, disaster resilience, and critical minerals—concluding that while the presidency has successfully raised global awareness and shaped the narrative for African development, the ambitious goals are unlikely to be fully realized in practice due to a lack of international consensus.

• South Africa's G20 presidency identified four primary priorities aligned with African challenges: debt sustainability, climate and energy transitions, disaster resilience and response, and the use of critical minerals for inclusive growth. Regarding debt, the paper notes that in 2023, 54 developing countries spent at least 10% of government funds on debt interest, with nearly half located in Africa. The G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments, adopted in 2020, is described as having "fallen short of the mark," with only four African countries applying and the process remaining slow.
• South Africa has focused on the high cost of capital and the need for a just energy transition. To address capital costs, South Africa proposed a cost of capital commission, which was integrated into an African Expert Panel chaired by former finance minister Trevor Manuel. Efforts regarding climate and energy transitions have been difficult; ministerial meetings on these topics failed to reach consensus, resulting only in "chair’s summaries."
• The presidency has seen some success in disaster resilience and response, resulting in a ministerial declaration that called for mobilizing diverse financing sources and ex ante disaster risk reduction. Additionally, South Africa is utilizing the Task Force on Inclusive Economic Growth, Industrialisation, Employment and Reduced Inequality to address critical minerals. The goal is to avoid a "cycle of exploitation and resource extraction" by adopting a voluntary G20 Critical Minerals Framework and supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area to move toward value-added production.
• Beyond the four main priorities, the presidency established task forces for food security and artificial intelligence, data governance, and innovation, the latter of which was highlighted at the AI for Africa Conference. Despite these efforts, the author suggests that the Johannesburg Summit's ambitions are "unlikely to be realised in practice" because some G20 members dispute the validity of the Sustainable Development Goals or climate change.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2025). Africa’s Voice at the G20: Will Johannesburg Deliver? https://saiia.org.za/research/africas-voice-at-the-g20-will-johannesburg-deliver/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Africa’s Voice at the G20: Will Johannesburg Deliver? 2025. https://saiia.org.za/research/africas-voice-at-the-g20-will-johannesburg-deliver/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Africa’s Voice at the G20: Will Johannesburg Deliver? |date=20 November 2025 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/africas-voice-at-the-g20-will-johannesburg-deliver/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2025africas, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Africa’s Voice at the G20: Will Johannesburg Deliver?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/africas-voice-at-the-g20-will-johannesburg-deliver/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }