Turkey and the G-20 Presidency: Implications for LIDCs and Africa

The document analyzes Turkey's G-20 presidency priorities—inclusiveness, investment, and implementation—and their application to Africa and LIDCs. It highlights a historical shift in Turkish foreign policy toward Africa, characterized by increased diplomatic missions and official development assistance. The authors argue that the G-20 suffers from a lack of African representation and a disconnect between its finance and development tracks. To address this, the brief suggests that Turkey align the G-20 agenda with UN sustainable development goals, facilitate private infrastructure investment through new asset classes, and include African policymakers in G-20 working groups.

• Turkey's foreign policy toward Africa has expanded significantly since 2002, shifting from a Western-centric focus to a 'bottom-up' approach. This included increasing diplomatic missions from 12 to 34 between 2002 and 2013 and raising official development assistance from $73 million in 2002 to $3.3 billion in 2013, with Africa ranking as the top recipient at 33.7%.
• African representation in the G-20 is considered inadequate, as only South Africa is a member among 54 countries. African policymakers are generally excluded from the policy formulation processes in G-20 working groups and ministerial meetings, and African representation in outreach groups like the Business 20 (B20) is minimal, with only 10 of 636 task force members from Africa during the Turkey cycle.
• The G-20's development agenda is hindered by a structural separation between the Sherpa's Track (which handles development issues like food security and energy) and the finance track. This disconnect means that developmental issues often remain 'a passive intellectual exercise' because they lack the necessary financial tools for implementation.
• Turkey's 2015 G-20 presidency has attempted to prioritize LIDCs for the first time in the group's history, specifically mentioning them in a finance communiqué regarding BEPS issues and infrastructure investment. Turkey also scheduled ministerial meetings on food waste and 'Energy Access for All', including a special meeting on sub-Saharan Africa on 17 September.
• To catalyze private investment in African infrastructure, the document suggests the G-20 design a political risk insurance mechanism to coordinate existing national and multilateral vehicles. It also notes Turkey's effort to establish 'infrastructure as an asset class' through securitization, which could channel global private finance and African diaspora remittances—which totaled $32 billion in 2013—into bankable projects.
• New G-20 financial regulations, specifically know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering rules, may negatively impact trade financing in Africa. Because African companies often have low trade volumes, the high cost of due diligence required by these regulations can act as a disincentive for banks to provide financing.

APA

Sahbaz, U., & Inan, F. (2015). Turkey and the G-20 Presidency: Implications for LIDCs and Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Policy-Insights-19.pdf

Chicago

Sahbaz, Ussal, and Feride Inan. Turkey and the G-20 Presidency: Implications for LIDCs and Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2015. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Policy-Insights-19.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sahbaz |first1=Ussal |last2=Inan |first2=Feride |title=Turkey and the G-20 Presidency: Implications for LIDCs and Africa |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=19 June 2015 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Policy-Insights-19.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sahbaz2015turkey, author = {Sahbaz, Ussal and Inan, Feride}, title = {{Turkey and the G-20 Presidency: Implications for LIDCs and Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2015}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Policy-Insights-19.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }