G20 is a Force for global Good

(Excerpts from the interview)

Q) What are major priorities of South Africa’s G20 presidency? What outcomes can one expect from the G20 summit in Johannesburg

A) The G20 summit in Johannesburg is poised to be a historical moment for South Africa and Africa as it is the first time a G20 summit will be hosted on the African soil. The theme of South Africa’s G20 presidency is “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability.” This theme gives a clear indication of where the focus will be during South Africa’s G20 presidency.

We have identified major priorities. The first is inclusive economic growth, industrialization, employment and bridging inequality. Addressing these major issues in the current global economic climate is critically important. Growth is very unevenly distributed within countries and between countries. We are facing new challenges on issues pertaining to global trade and investment. This theme has, therefore, become very pertinent.

Industrialization is critical for the African continent and for the developing world. It has been part of the G20 agenda for several years, but we wanted to bring a sharp focus on this, especially as it pertains to the African continent.

Employment is a major challenge. In South Africa, the unemployment rate is quite high, especially amongst youth. This is also true of the African continent, and across nations of the Global South. So, how do we create decent employment, especially given new challenges, like new technologies and artificial intelligence, which impacts on traditional employment modes?

The issue of inequality has become more urgent than ever. Inequality within countries and between countries is not getting better, it’s getting worse. This has been a major focus that we have addressed.

The issue of food security has been on the table of G20 presidencies in the past, especially during India and Brazil’s presidency. It continues to be a major challenge, especially the African continent, which is a net food importing continent. And given the challenges around the Russia-Ukraine situation and COVID, which all impacted on food security, especially we saw shortages of fertilizers that was a direct result of the Russia-Ukraine situation, the COVID pandemic, and the impact it had on agricultural yields, and the disruption to food supply chains, all of this has impacted negatively. We are confident that some of these challenges would be addressed effectively, and there would be positive outcomes.

Thirdly, how do we harness artificial intelligence for innovation and sustainable development? Artificial intelligence impacts on the lives of every nation, on every individual, but we don’t have a coordinated approach in terms of looking at the opportunities while collectively addressing the challenges that AI brings. This has been also one of our key focus areas during our presidency, and we hope that we would make progress in collectively addressing the issues on the table and the opportunities.

Q) How will the G20 summit in Johannesburg address African issues?

A) The issue of debt sustainability, especially for African countries, has been a major focus of our presidency as it continues to impact the development of poorer nations. For many of our nations in Africa, debt sustainability has become a major burden and detracts from the development of these countries and the economies. This has been a major focus during our presidency.

As the G20 summit is being held on the African soil for the first time, it gives us an opportunity to also highlight issues pertaining to the African continent. We have consistently, in the ministerial meetings, as well as working groups, integrated the issues of Agenda 2063, the issues of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, and the developmental challenges facing Africa, as well as issues pertaining to access to technology, our industrialization drive, as well as capacity building and the capacity constraints we face.

The G20 summit in Johannesburg is, therefore, an ideal opportunity to specifically focus on some of the key African issues and how they are streamlined and fast-tracked into the G20 agenda on a sustainable basis. We would like to see key outcomes at the summit addressing all these that we have put as priorities.

The G20 gives us hope that despite our differences, it’s possible for the global North and South to converge on a common platform and collectively address the major challenges we face that impacts equally on the North and South. The G20 has to work together as a collective. The Global North alone cannot determine the shape and future of the evolving multipolar world. It has to be done in tandem with all partners. The G20 proves that the Global North and South can work together, addressing collective issues.

Q) What are your expectations from India, insofar as South Africa G20 presidency is concerned?

A) India and South Africa firstly have strong bilateral relations underpinned by a common history. India was a very important partner for us in our liberation struggle.

It was India that brought global attention to apartheid as a crime against humanity when they raised this at the United Nations, the first country to do so, the first country to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. India has worked with South Africa during the dark days of our struggle. And India was one of the first countries to establish full diplomatic relations with South Africa.

On the multilateral front also, we have been solid partners as well. We have worked in established global South platforms very much in tandem in bodies such as NAM, the G77, and more recently, within formations like IBSA, the India-Brazil-South Africa trilateral partnership, within BRICS, within BASIC in the climate change negotiations, and within the G20.

We have worked very closely with India during its presidency of the G20. India has worked closely with us during our current presidency of the G20. We see India as an ally and a like-minded country that will work closely to ensure the success of the Johannesburg Summit. We are very pleased Prime Minister Modi will be visiting South Africa. This will be his fourth visit since assuming the prime ministership of India.

We count on India to be a positive force in addressing some of the challenges that we are naturally going to encounter in what is going to be a challenging G20 summit, given the geopolitical environment we find ourselves in.