(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The spotlight is turning Saturday to South Africa, as all preparations have been primed to host the two-day 2025 G20 summit in Johannesburg, thereby becoming the first African city to embrace this consequential convention whose resolutions invariably open the aperture of strategic thinking and help chart the future trajectories of the global economy.
Since its inaugural summit in Washington in 2008, G20 Leaders' Summits have traditionally convened in European, Asian, and American capitals, but South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency on Dec.1 2024, becoming the first African nation entrusted with this mandate.
The South African Cabinet expressed its confidence in the nation's readiness, affirming that it stands poised to host this global event exceptionally.
The African Union Commission (AUC) likewise commended South Africa's presidency, describing this debut convention as a paradigm shift in elevating the voice of the Global South within major global blocs.
A formal communique issued by AUC underscored that South Africa, in its capacity as G20 President, is enjoined to play a leading role in defending the priorities of developing nations, foremost among them sustainable development, climate justice, and reform of the international financial architecture.
South Africa's presidency unfolds amid interlocking global crises, climate change, inequality, poverty, hunger, unemployment, technological disruption, and geopolitical instability, and the summit approaches a pivotal moment in the implementation timeline of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The 2024 SDG Report showed that only 17% of SDG targets are on track to be achieved by 2030, an alarming indicator that accentuates the urgent need for greater resources, decisive action, and progress of a transformational kind, particularly in nations of the Global South.
The summit will convene under the official theme "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability", zeroing in on three priorities aligned with South Africa's agenda, chiefly inclusive economic growth and industrialization to reduce disparities, food security amid drought and conflict, and artificial intelligence coupled with digital governance for sustainable development.
The theme reflects a deliberate pivot away from an era in which the G20 was pigeonholed as a consortium of major economic elites, steering it instead toward humanitarian and developmental imperatives.
Leaders are expected to press for reforms within the World Trade Organization (WTO), greater financing for a Just Energy Transition across the Global South, whose nations endure the brunt of climate fallout despite their negligible emissions, and renewed attention to African debt, trade partnerships, and mechanisms of accountability to implement previous commitments.
A host of side events will concomitantly be held or precede this event, including the Youth Summit, the B20 South Africa 2025 Business Summit, the G20 Social Summit from Nov.18 to 20, gathering thousands of participants with a focus on African youth cast as a driving force for change.
Observers view the summit as a landmark opportunity for Africa to reshape global conversations on climate finance and sovereign debt, noting that its success could promote Africa's role on the global stage. They caution against the perils of empty promises, urging the adoption of clear implementation mechanisms for the summit's resolutions.
The G20, a forum uniting advanced and emerging economies, was established in 1999 in the aftermath of the 1997 to 1998 Asian Financial Crisis as an informal platform for finance ministers and central bank governors from major industrial and developing economies to deliberate on international monetary and financial stability, and initially centered on macroeconomic issues.
It later expanded its agenda to encompass trade, climate change, sustainable development, health, agriculture, energy, the environment, and anti-corruption.
In addition, G20 was elevated to the level of Heads of State and Government after the 2007 global economic and financial crisis, and in 2009 when it became clear that the coordination required to confront crises must come from the highest level politcally. Since then, G20 leaders have met regularly, transforming the forum into an exceptional platform for international economic cooperation.
Today, the G20 commands nearly 85% of global GDP, two-thirds of the world's population, and 75% of international trade, and by virtue of this collective economic weight, the group wields profound influence in shaping global policy, confronting shared challenges, and instilling the hope in the heart that a more equitable economic order may yet emerge, one not bound for the misfortune that many fear nor infiltrated by the divisive politics that often derail multilateral cooperation.

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