Boosting Africa’s and LDCs’ Agency in the G20

The document examines the limited role of African countries and LDCs in G20 decision-making and proposes mechanisms to enhance their agency. It highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated vulnerabilities in these regions, leading to the worst economic outcome in thirty years for LDCs. The author suggests creating a formal outreach mechanism with longer-term representation to ensure continuity and mainstreaming LDC inputs across G20 workstreams, including climate and finance. Key priority themes identified include rethinking vulnerability metrics beyond per capita GDP, ensuring a 'just transition' that balances green recovery with immediate social needs, and reforming the financial architecture to provide more fiscal space and fairer capital market access.

• The COVID-19 pandemic caused severe economic distress for LDCs, resulting in a 2.6 per cent reduction in per capita income in 2020, which represented the worst economic outcome for these countries in thirty years.
• African countries and LDCs have historically had limited agency in the G20, and current initiatives often fail because the G20 lacks an implementation architecture and its commitments are filtered through the self-protective views of its member countries.
• To improve inclusivity, the G20 should establish an outreach mechanism for LDCs and other developing regions with rotating membership and longer terms for representatives to build expertise and ensure continuity across annual presidency changes.
• There is a critical need to redefine 'vulnerability' in international financial architecture, as per capita GDP is an insufficient metric; many middle-income countries proved precarious during the pandemic despite their classification.
• The push for a 'green recovery' by G7 countries may conflict with the immediate existential needs of LDCs and Africa, such as food security and health emergencies, necessitating a 'just transition' supported by scaled-up climate finance as per the Paris Agreement.
• The financial architecture for developing states requires reform to increase fiscal space, including the optimization of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and the creation of fairer capital markets to allow for liquidity borrowing.
• The Think 20 (T20) Africa Standing Group (ASG), established in 2017, serves as a mechanism to channel African think tank voices into G20 task forces, moving from Africa-specific task forces to a more thematic approach across all relevant workstreams.

APA

Sidiropoulos, E. (2021). Boosting Africa’s and LDCs’ Agency in the G20. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Boosting-Africas-and-LDCs-Agency-in-the-G20.pdf

Chicago

Sidiropoulos, Elizabeth. Boosting Africa’s and LDCs’ Agency in the G20. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2021. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Boosting-Africas-and-LDCs-Agency-in-the-G20.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sidiropoulos |first1=Elizabeth |title=Boosting Africa’s and LDCs’ Agency in the G20 |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=October 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Boosting-Africas-and-LDCs-Agency-in-the-G20.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sidiropoulos2021boosting, author = {Sidiropoulos, Elizabeth}, title = {{Boosting Africa’s and LDCs’ Agency in the G20}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Boosting-Africas-and-LDCs-Agency-in-the-G20.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }