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Round
The World
New
Delhi, 28 November 2025
G-20 in Johannesburg
ASSERTING AFRICA’S
ASPIRATIONS
By Dr. D.K. Giri
(Prof of Practice,
NIIS Group of Institutions)
The
20th G-20 meeting in the South African capital was marked by quite a
few significant developments as well as a departure from its tradition: that
was the leaders’ Declaration issued after the Summit. It was overshadowed and was
almost at the risk of being defined by the absence of the ‘big three’ – the US
President Donald Trump, Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and Russian President
Vladimir Putin. Trump not only boycotted the Summit, he sent a charge’ d’
affairs at the last minute to collect the gavel at the closing handover ahead
of its G-20 presidency in Florida. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
refused to accept this insulting gesture.
The
other significant development was the assertive agenda set by South Africa
underscoring Africa’s problems and aspirations. It is to be noted that G-20
summit was taking place for the first time in the African Continent. However,
South Africa managed to secure the desired outcomes despite half-empty seats at
the top and the disruptive US interventions. South Africa claimed it, “African
moment” reflecting the realities of Global South especially of Africa – shocks
of climate changes, unsustainable debt, growing inequality and Africa’s
continuing desire to shift from mineral exports to securing greater value for
their economies.
The
Summit on 22 and 23 November 2025 was attended by 17 Heads of Member-States,
two representatives of regional bodies (European Union and African Union), the
latter became a full member in the New Delhi Summit. Two other
member-countries, Argentina and Mexico downgraded their delegations. The
international organisations which were invited as Guest Participants included
African Continental Free Trade Area (AFTA), African Development Bank (ADB),
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (CMESA), East African Community
(EAC), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Financial
Stability Board (FAB), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
(FAO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund
(IMF), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), New Development Bank (NDB),
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Centre
(SC), South African Development Community (SADC), UN Trade and Development
(UNTD), United Nations (UN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), World Bank (WB),
World Customs Organisation (WCO), World Health Organisation (WHO) and World
Trade Organisation (WTO).
Reflecting
the African realities and aspirations, South Africa articulated the theme of
the Summit, Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability. It is being interpreted as
solidarity referring to close cooperation across diverse economies, rich and
poor, equality referring to promoting equal opportunities and fair practices
between and within countries, and sustainability aiming at a long-term development
agenda that does not compromise the security of future generations.
The
G-20 presidency is basically managed by Sherpa Working Groups. They interact
with different departments of the member countries and prepare the Summit
agenda. They coordinate with the G-20 president’s representatives to conduct
the operations. The Sherpa Track in Johannesburg consisted of 15 working groups
– agriculture, anti-corruption, culture, development, digital economy, disaster
risk-reduction, education, employment, empowerment of women, energy
transitions, environment and climate sustainability, health, research and
innovation, tourism, trade and investment.
South
Africa identified several areas of focus as agenda priorities and high-level
priorities. Priorities included disaster resilience, debt sustainability,
energy-transition finance (mobilising funds for renewable energy) and critical
minerals. The high-level priorities were Priority 1 – inclusive economic
growth, industrialisation, employment and reducing inequality; Priority 2 –
food security, the summit sparked optimism for Mzansi agriculture in 2025.
Mzansi is a colloquial name for South Africa, and its agriculture sector is
optimistic, aiming at leveraging global opportunities, securing technology to
overcome challenges. The key themes of the sector include climate-smart
farming, financial sustainability for new farmers, the integration of advanced
technology and above all, youth empowerment. There is a segment call Mzansi
Youth Farmers. Priority 3 – artificial
intelligence and innovation for sustainable development.
On
artificial intelligence (AI), Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a Global
Compact to prevent misuse of AI and emphasised the need for critical
technologies to be ‘human-centric’ instead of finance-centric. He was
addressing the third session on, “A fair and just future for all – critical
minerals, decent work artificial intelligence.” He suggested further that
technology applications should be global not national, should be inclusive not
exclusive. He cited India’s experience which reflects this model in the India’s
technology ecosystem. He assured the audience that this model has resulted in
significant benefits in high-tech areas like Space applications, AI or Digital
payments where it is a world leader.
The
Prime Minister underscored the point that AI systems impact human life,
security and public trust; so, it must be ‘responsible and auditable’. He
underlined that “AI should enhance human capabilities, but the ultimate
responsibility for decision making always remains with human beings”. The Prime
Minister announced that India would be hosting the AI Impact Summit in February
2026 with the theme ‘Sarvajanam Hitaya, Sarvajanam Sukhaya’ (welfare for
all, happiness for all). Invoking India’s Vedic scriptures like the one quoted
here by the Prime Minister, he articulated India’s message for global welfare,
asserting that India stood for development that is sustainable, trade that is
trusted, finance that is fair and progress in which everyone prospers.
Interestingly,
the next Summit will be held by the US presidency which boycotted the
Johannesburg Summit, rejected the key agreements under South African
presidency, criticised South Africa for its alleged persecution of white
farmers and called Pretoria, the capital of South Africa as anti-American. What
is more, Trump’s current ultimatum to Ukraine to accept the peace settlement by
the Thanksgiving Day, 27 November divided the attention of those Group of Seven
(G7) leaders who were attending the Johannesburg summit.
Strategically,
South Africa enhanced Africa’s centrality in critical minerals as the Continent
possess huge share of global reserves of Cobalt, Manganese, Platinum-group
metals and rare earth. South Africa used the G-20 Summit to call for greater
investment in exploration of these minerals, processing and manufacturing – not
just shipping ores to China. This should align with Trump administrations’
focus on critical minerals. Trump does not regard critical minerals as a part
of energy transition, but is concerned about resilience and diverse supply
chains. He would like the world to be less dependent on Chinese manufacturing. Diverse
supply would mean new mines, refining and processing capacity in many
countries. Africa is certainly one such candidate.
Admittedly,
South Africa bringing critical minerals to the centre-stage should feed into
Trump’s G-20 at Doral, Florida next year. But many leaders are wary of Florida
deliberations being more about deregulation, fossil fuel driven energy supply
and America First framing of trade and investment. So, while South Africa
raised optimism for the African Continent and Global South, the G-20 members
may hear a different sermon from Donald Trump. Let us conclude that the road
from South Africa to Florida will decide whether United States will build on
the foundation laid in Johannesburg – solidarity, equality and sustainability –
or will bury it under America First which may undermine the value of the forum
G-20. Let us hope not. ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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