G20–AFRICA ENGAGEMENT: FINDING A ROADMAP TO SHARED DEVELOPMENT

The document examines how the G20 has shifted from crisis management to a broader development focus, resulting in targeted engagements with Africa. It compares China's Industrialisation Initiative, which leveraged existing bilateral ties and focused on skills transfer, with Germany's Compact with Africa (CwA), a demand-driven model focusing on regulatory reforms to attract private investment. It also notes Argentina's approach of deepening diplomatic access for African representatives. The authors argue that while engagement has increased, Africa remains structurally excluded from global norm-setting and requires greater capacity and consistent representation within the G20 to influence global economic governance.

• The G20's focus shifted from immediate financial crisis mitigation after 2008 toward a comprehensive approach to development, formalised in 2010 with the creation of the Development Working Group (DWG) to address the global development gap.
• China's 2016 Industrialisation Initiative was not a new G20-led effort but rather an attempt to integrate other G20 members into China's pre-existing African engagement strategies, such as the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
• The Chinese approach to African development emphasises human capacity and skills transfer, including the establishment of agricultural demonstration centres and thousands of government scholarships for African students.
• Germany's 2017 Compact with Africa (CwA) is a demand-driven initiative that encourages African countries to implement macroeconomic, business, and financing reforms in exchange for facilitated public-private partnerships (PPPs) and private investment.
• The Compact with Africa has faced criticism for promoting a neoliberal regime of fiscal discipline and deregulation that may be unsuitable for low-income countries and fails to align with the AU's Agenda 2063 or regional integration goals.
• Argentina's 2018 presidency focused on continuity rather than new initiatives, but it improved engagement by granting the AU and NEPAD access to all preparatory meetings and employing direct person-to-person diplomacy via its G20 sherpa.
• A fundamental contradiction exists where the G20 acts as a global norm-maker, yet the rules it champions often contribute to Africa's structural exclusion from the global economy.
• African engagement with the G20 is hindered by a lack of internal capacity within African institutions to track commitments and proactively engage with the G20's complex work streams.

APA

van Staden, C., & Sidiropoulos, E. (2019). G20–AFRICA ENGAGEMENT: FINDING A ROADMAP TO SHARED DEVELOPMENT. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Occasional-Paper-294.pdf

Chicago

van Staden, Cobus, and Elizabeth Sidiropoulos. G20–AFRICA ENGAGEMENT: FINDING A ROADMAP TO SHARED DEVELOPMENT. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2019. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Occasional-Paper-294.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=van Staden |first1=Cobus |last2=Sidiropoulos |first2=Elizabeth |title=G20–AFRICA ENGAGEMENT: FINDING A ROADMAP TO SHARED DEVELOPMENT |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=February 2019 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Occasional-Paper-294.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vanstaden2019g20africa, author = {van Staden, Cobus and Sidiropoulos, Elizabeth}, title = {{G20–AFRICA ENGAGEMENT: FINDING A ROADMAP TO SHARED DEVELOPMENT}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Occasional-Paper-294.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }