South Africa’s presidency of the Group of 20 major economies in 2025 gives Africa’s most influential nation an unprecedented opportunity to put the continent’s development at the heart of the global economic agenda.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government will oversee the G20′s work in the final year of its rotating leadership cycle, and the workload involves a marathon series of meetings that culminates in a leaders’ summit in Johannesburg next November.
As the first African country to lead the G20, South Africa is expected by its continental peers to drive a progressive, Africa-centric and development-orientated agenda over the coming year.
Speaking on December 3rd, Ramaphosa confirmed this would be the case, saying that advancing Africa and the country’s agendas at the G20 was one of his main goals in 2025.
“Through solidarity, we can create an inclusive future that advances the interests of people at the greatest risk of being left behind,” said Ramaphosa, who added the theme of South Africa’s G20 presidency was “solidarity, equality and sustainability”.
Originally founded in 1999 as a platform for finance ministers and central bank governors, the G20 today consists of 19 of the world’s most important economies and two regions – the European Union and the African Union.
The forum says it represents about 85 per cent of the global economy and 75 per cent of international trade, making it one of the most influential mechanisms to shape global economic policy.
Foreign policy researcher Laura Rubidge told The Irish Times that aside from achieving its own objectives, South Africa wants to build on the agendas established by the last three G20 presidencies, which were held by India, Indonesia and Brazil.
“What South Africa has done is establish three taskforces to bring in the sherpa [lead negotiators] and finance teams from each nation to discuss issues and drive the implementation of earlier agendas. This is a similar approach to Brazil’s presidency,” she said.
In terms of “moving the needle” on programmes established under earlier G20 presidencies, Rubidge,foreign policy researcher with the South African Institute of International Affairs, believes this approach bodes well for making progress.
“Many of the cross-cutting issues are discussed in separate working groups, so by bringing them together, technical debates can be advanced with greater co-ordination,” she maintained.
The first of the taskforces established by South Africa will look at inclusive economic growth, industrialisation, employment and reduced inequality. The second tackles food security, while the third deals with the use of artificial intelligence, data governance and innovation for sustainable development.
In the run-up to November’s summit, more than 230 meetings will take place between officials from G20 countries who want to influence the global agenda and shape economic policy for the years ahead.
Other nations have also been invited to these meetings, including Ireland. South Africa recently asked the Irish Government to participate, as Dublin is seen as a strategic ally on several global issues by the African nation.
Ramaphosa has also announced that an expert panel on Africa will be established to advise on strengthening the continent’s current development initiatives, like the Compact with Africa, which is an investment vehicle that focuses on infrastructure.
Another area South Africa intends to tackle is the prohibitive cost of capital for lower- and middle-income countries, which limits governments’ ability to invest in their people and fund climate-adaptation programmes.
According to Rubidge, dealing with African countries’ high debt levels is another big-ticket financial item for South Africa.
“President Ramaphosa has proposed that a cost of capital commission be established to look at the high cost of debt and its root causes in a holistic way, making sure it is fair and sustainable,” she said.
“The commission would also look at the methodologies used by credit ratings agencies to ensure they are fit for purpose, and the possibility of including a country’s natural resources in its gross domestic product figure.”
While South Africa’s G20 presidency is a major opportunity, it comes at a difficult time, given that wars in the Middle East and eastern Europe have brought fresh challenges for multilateralism to overcome.
Furthermore, co-ordinating the troika of the current (South Africa), previous (Brazil) and next (US) G20 presidencies is also seen as a daunting task.
All three countries are expected to co-operate to prepare for November’s leadership summit in Johannesburg. But incoming US president Donald Trump has already cast doubt over the US’s willingness to meaningfully collaborate with its G20 partners, especially around trade.
Posting on the social media platform X on December 1st, Trump said he would raise tariffs on imports for countries in the Brics group of emerging economies if they tried to move away from using the US dollar to trade between each other.
“We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new Brics currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar, or they will face 100 per cent tariffs,” he warned.
Indeed, given the US takes over the G20 presidency for 2026, Rubidge believes South Africa will have to tread carefully to ensure its agenda is taken forward in a meaningful way by its successor.
“It is important there is continuity between the G20 presidencies, and the troika will be a particularly important mechanism to achieve this.
“South Africa must also be clever and strategic around how it tables its future work plans for the G20, which will emerge from its review of the G20 after 20 years, to ensure these initiatives are implemented effectively,” she concluded.
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