Foregrounding the African Agenda

The document outlines five thematic areas for G20 action to support Africa's development: digital sovereignty and AI governance, trade resilience through the AfCFTA, 'whole-of-society' just energy transitions, reform of the global financial architecture, and the pursuit of the 2030 and 2063 sustainability agendas amidst shifting geopolitical tensions.

• Africa faces structural asymmetries in the digital economy where data generated on the continent powers global AI systems with minimal local value retention or governance, leading to a dependency on foreign platforms.
• To achieve digital sovereignty, the T20 Africa community recommends the G20 adopt a Digital Statistics Compact to fund national data systems and endorse regional frameworks like the African Union Data Policy Framework.
• The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is positioned as a framework for industrialisation and the development of cross-border value chains to move Africa beyond a dependence on commodity exports.
• Global climate transitions are currently uneven, with burdens falling disproportionately on low- and middle-income countries while benefits concentrate in wealthy industrialised nations, risking the reinforcement of social exclusion and ecological degradation.
• A 'whole-of-economy, whole-of-society' approach to just transitions requires the G20 to reform the international financial system to provide affordable financing, facilitate genuine technology sharing, and allow policy space for strategic industrial diversification.
• The global financial architecture is outdated; recommendations for reform include updating the G20 Common Framework for debt resolution, moving toward a multi-currency system to reduce US dollar dependency, and creating a new African Credit Rating Agency to lower the cost of capital.
• The G20 should consider 'century bonds'—ultra-long-term, low-interest bonds—to provide multilateral development banks with the patient capital needed for climate and infrastructure projects.
• The global consensus on sustainability is weakening, evidenced by the US representative's March 2025 announcement rejecting the 2030 Agenda and a 7.1% drop in Official Development Assistance from OECD countries between 2023 and 2024.

APA

GORIOLA, O., FLOYD, R., HARTZENBERG, T., MONTMASSON-CLAIR, G., HERMANUS, L., DANE, A., RYDER, H. W., & HORNIDGE, A.-K. (2025). Foregrounding the African Agenda. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Final_Policy-Note_Foregrounding-the-African-Agenda_T20-Africa-Inputs-for-the-G20-Social-Summit.pdf

Chicago

GORIOLA, OLAMIDE, ROB FLOYD, TRUDI HARTZENBERG, GAYLOR MONTMASSON-CLAIR, LAUREN HERMANUS, ANTHONY DANE, HANNAH WANJIE RYDER, and ANNA-KATHARINA HORNIDGE. Foregrounding the African Agenda. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2025. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Final_Policy-Note_Foregrounding-the-African-Agenda_T20-Africa-Inputs-for-the-G20-Social-Summit.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=GORIOLA |first1=OLAMIDE |last2=FLOYD |first2=ROB |last3=HARTZENBERG |first3=TRUDI |last4=MONTMASSON-CLAIR |first4=GAYLOR |last5=HERMANUS |first5=LAUREN |last6=DANE |first6=ANTHONY |last7=RYDER |first7=HANNAH WANJIE |last8=HORNIDGE |first8=ANNA-KATHARINA |title=Foregrounding the African Agenda |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=22 November 2025 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Final_Policy-Note_Foregrounding-the-African-Agenda_T20-Africa-Inputs-for-the-G20-Social-Summit.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{goriola2025foregrounding, author = {GORIOLA, OLAMIDE and FLOYD, ROB and HARTZENBERG, TRUDI and MONTMASSON-CLAIR, GAYLOR and HERMANUS, LAUREN and DANE, ANTHONY and RYDER, HANNAH WANJIE and HORNIDGE, ANNA-KATHARINA}, title = {{Foregrounding the African Agenda}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Final_Policy-Note_Foregrounding-the-African-Agenda_T20-Africa-Inputs-for-the-G20-Social-Summit.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }