The G-20 and Development: Ensuring Greater African Participation

The policy brief argues that while South Africa is the only permanent African member of the G-20, the current system of inviting the AU chair and a NEPAD representative is insufficient due to high rotation and a lack of formal coordination. It highlights that G-20 agendas on infrastructure, tax reform, and sustainable development financing directly impact Africa's development goals, such as Agenda 2063. To address capacity gaps, the authors recommend establishing a coordinating secretariat within the AU Commission, drawing on the successful model used for the 2011 Busan Forum on Aid Effectiveness and South Africa's 2013 BRICS outreach to African countries.

• African participation in the G-20 is currently limited and fragmented; while the AU chair and a NEPAD representative are invited to summits, they contribute little to the preparatory 'sherpa' and finance tracks.
• South Africa serves as the sole permanent African member of the G-20, which creates an unsatisfactory representation balance and places an undue burden on South Africa to provide an African voice while also representing its own national interests.
• The G-20 agenda contains several areas critical to African development, including infrastructure financing, regional integration, remittances, tax and domestic resource mobilisation, and the reform of global financial institutions.
• The effectiveness of African representation is hindered by the high rotation of AU and NEPAD representatives and the lack of a formal status compared to the European Commission, which is a fully fledged member.
• The 2011 Busan Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness serves as a successful model for African coordination, where extensive consultations led to a 'consensus position' that allowed the continent to present a coordinated front.
• The authors recommend that the AU Commission establish a coordinating secretariat to prepare African positions on G-20 items, brief representatives, and engage in preparatory working group meetings.

APA

Nnadozie, E., & Makokera, C. G. (2014). The G-20 and Development: Ensuring Greater African Participation. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Policy-Briefing-117.pdf

Chicago

Nnadozie, Emmanuel, and Catherine Grant Makokera. The G-20 and Development: Ensuring Greater African Participation. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2014. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Policy-Briefing-117.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nnadozie |first1=Emmanuel |last2=Makokera |first2=Catherine Grant |title=The G-20 and Development: Ensuring Greater African Participation |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=November 2014 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Policy-Briefing-117.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nnadozie2014g20, author = {Nnadozie, Emmanuel and Makokera, Catherine Grant}, title = {{The G-20 and Development: Ensuring Greater African Participation}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Policy-Briefing-117.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }