End of a Cycle: South Africa’s G20 Presidency and the Future of Global Cooperation

This research paper examines South Africa's G20 presidency, marking the end of the first cycle of summits since 2008. It analyzes the challenges facing the G20's consensus-based model amidst rising populism and the US's shift toward unilateralism, while detailing South Africa's specific priorities for the Global South, including climate finance, debt sustainability, and critical minerals.

• South Africa's G20 presidency focuses on three overarching themes: "solidarity, equality, and sustainability". These priorities align with previous developing country presidencies (Brazil, India, and Indonesia) and emphasize a developmental agenda for the Global South.
• The South African presidency has identified four specific priority areas for the G20: scaling up post-disaster reconstruction for disaster resilience; improving the G20 Common Framework on Debt Sustainability to address liquidity challenges and high structural deficits for low-income countries; increasing the quality and quantity of climate finance for a just energy transition; and ensuring that the extraction of critical minerals benefits local communities and source countries in Africa to avoid a colonial-style extraction cycle.
• To support its G20 objectives, South Africa established three high-level task forces focusing on Food Security; Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance and Innovation for Sustainable Development; and Inclusive Economic Growth, Industrialisation, Employment and Reduced Inequality. Additionally, the SA Treasury created an Africa Experts Panel, chaired by Trevor Manuel, to provide strategic advice for G20 finance track discussions.
• The G20 is at a "critical juncture" because its core working method of consensus is being undermined by a shift toward unilateralism, particularly by the second Trump administration in the US, which has rejected the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.
• As the final presidency of the first cycle, South Africa is conducting a "G20@20" review. This process involves a survey of member countries to assess the effectiveness and impact of the finance and sherpa tracks and will include recommendations for the future based on inputs from former policy makers.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2025). End of a Cycle: South Africa’s G20 Presidency and the Future of Global Cooperation. https://saiia.org.za/research/end-of-a-cycle-south-africas-g20-presidency-and-the-future-of-global-cooperation/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. End of a Cycle: South Africa’s G20 Presidency and the Future of Global Cooperation. 2025. https://saiia.org.za/research/end-of-a-cycle-south-africas-g20-presidency-and-the-future-of-global-cooperation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=End of a Cycle: South Africa’s G20 Presidency and the Future of Global Cooperation |date=15 August 2025 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/end-of-a-cycle-south-africas-g20-presidency-and-the-future-of-global-cooperation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2025end, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{End of a Cycle: South Africa’s G20 Presidency and the Future of Global Cooperation}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/end-of-a-cycle-south-africas-g20-presidency-and-the-future-of-global-cooperation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }