G20 South Africa 2025

G20 South Africa
22 – 23 November 2025
The G20 comprises 19 countries including: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
South Africa, Türkiye, United Kingdom, and United States and two regional bodies, namely the European Union and the African Union.
The G20 members include the world’s major economies, representing 85% of global Gross Domestic Product, over 75% of international trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

🇿🇦 The 20th summit of G20 leaders, Johannesburg
“We have what we call sufficient consensus” – Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for South Africa’s president
(International Intrigue) With the US boycotting and a DC-friendly Argentina withholding its own signature at the last minute, there was no consensus at this year’s G20 summit in South Africa.
But South Africa’s Ramaphosa called their bluff and published a G20 declaration anyway. It’s like saying your family WhatsApp has “sufficient consensus” on Christmas plans, even though Uncle Gus and the cousins made clear they hate your Christmas plans.
Anyway, Ramaphosa’s point was clear: in a multipolar world, a US boycott might just end up curbing America’s own influence. Meanwhile…
“We will promote mutually beneficial cooperation and peaceful use of key minerals” – Li Qiang, premier of China
Li (repping his boss Xi) copped a veiled G20 rebuke of China’s “unilateral trade actions” that limit the world’s access to critical mineral bottlenecks: those curbs have rattled not just US military and tech leaders, but also European and Japanese automakers.
So Li announced a low-detail “global mining initiative” with 19 developing nations promising “stable and smooth” supplies. Also hinting at mineral deals with Germany and others, it’s a reminder China is still leveraging its bottlenecks to drive its own agenda.
That’s why America’s own Export-Import Bank (EXIM) is now reportedly investing $100B to secure US and allied supply chains. But there was a bigger focus at this year’s G20…
“We used this presidency to place the priorities of Africa and the Global South firmly at the heart of the G20 agenda” – Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa
You could see this both in the G20’s guestlist (with ~20 guests like Angola, Namibia, and Nigeria) but also the focus: the G20’s first explicit prioritisation of inequality reduction.
It’s mostly aspirational, though the associated report* (led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz) includes some big findings (41% of recent new wealth went to the top 1%) and recommendations (tackle corporate concentration and large capital gains).
And with that, Ramaphosa banged the gavel, though there was a spat over how to hand it to next year’s US hosts (they’ve agreed to meet at South Africa’s foreign ministry).
*4 November 2025 – Wits University
G20 Report: We are facing an inequality emergency
Landmark G20 report led by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz sounds alarm on ‘inequality emergency’ and calls for International Panel on Inequality.

23 November
The G20 summit in South Africa ends with the glaring absence of the US after Trump’s boycott
(AP) — The Group of 20 summit in South Africa ended Sunday with the glaring absence of the United States — the next country to lead the bloc — after the Trump administration boycotted the two days of talks involving leaders of the world’s richest and top developing economies.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the summit in Johannesburg closed by banging a wooden gavel on a block like a judge would, in a G20 tradition. The gavel would normally be handed over to the leader of the next country to hold the rotating presidency, but no U.S. official was there to receive it.
The world’s biggest economy boycotted a summit meant to bring rich and developing nations together over President Donald Trump’s claims that South Africa is violently persecuting its Afrikaner white minority.
The White House said it intended in a last-minute decision for an official from its embassy in South Africa to attend the G20 handover. But South Africa refused that, saying it was an insult for Ramaphosa to hand over to a junior embassy official. In the end, no U.S. delegation was accredited for the summit, according to the South African Foreign Ministry.
The first G20 summit in Africa also broke with tradition on Saturday by issuing a leaders’ declaration on the opening day of the talks, when declarations usually come at the end of the summit.
The declaration was significant in that it came in the face of opposition from the U.S., which has for months been critical of a South African agenda for the group that largely focused on climate change and global wealth inequality — focuses the Trump administration derided. Argentina said it also opposed the declaration after Argentine President Javier Milei — a Trump ally — also skipped the summit.
Other G20 nations, including China, Russia, France, Germany, the U.K., Japan and Canada, backed the declaration, which called for more global attention on issues that specifically affect poor countries, such as the need for financial help for their recovery efforts after climate-related disasters, finding ways to ease their debt levels and supporting their transition to climate-friendly green energy sources.
“South Africa has used this presidency to place the priorities of Africa and the Global South firmly at the heart of the G20 agenda,” Ramaphosa said.

22 November
Macron, Who Called NATO Brain Dead, Warns of End to G-20
Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
Emmanuel Macron said the G-20 may be reaching the end of a cycle and its very existence is at risk.
Macron cited the absence of the US at the table and the difficulty to protect humanitarian law as evidence that requires an urgent collective re-engagement.
Macron said “we are struggling to have a common standard on geopolitical crisis” in his opening remarks at the Group of 20 summit in South Africa.

20-21 November
South Africa’s dispute with US escalates amid row over G20 handover event
Trump press secretary accuses Cyril Ramaphosa of ‘running his mouth’ after US boycott of summit in Johannesburg
The dispute between South Africa and the US over the Trump administration’s decision to boycott the G20 in Johannesburg has continued, with South Africa objecting to a US plan for a junior embassy official to take part in the closing ceremony meant to mark the handover to the next summit, which will take place in Florida.
The two-day summit, which opens on Saturday, comes at a febrile moment in global politics. The US has proposed a deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it agreed with Moscow without the involvement of Ukraine or the EU.
Washington has also been accusing South Africa for months of racial discrimination against minority white Afrikaners, who ruled the country during apartheid, which South Africa has vehemently rejected.
The country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, told a press conference on Thursday that the US had had a change of mind about participating in the G20 and that the two sides were discussing what form US involvement could take. He had said earlier in the day that countries should not be bullied and that their sovereignty should be respected.
White House Says South Africa’s President Is ‘Running His Mouth’
The South African president suggested Washington had decided to participate in the summit, despite an earlier claim of a boycott.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the administration planned to send its acting ambassador in South Africa, Marc D. Dillard, but only to participate in a ceremony at the end of the summit.
With the United States hosting next year’s gathering, Mr. Dillard would receive “that send off at the end of the event,” she said, but would not “participate in official talks.”
… But after the comments from Ms. Leavitt, the South African president’s spokesman wrote on social media that Mr. Ramaphosa would not hand over the G20 presidency to an acting U.S. ambassador.
… Dozens of meetings on a variety of topics, including climate change and debt sustainability, have been held in the lead up to this weekend. The United States has skipped many of the meetings, according to people who participated. In cases where U.S. officials did attend, they often refused to negotiate, preventing countries from issuing joint declarations. (All declarations require unanimous agreement.)
South African officials have said they plan to forge ahead with a consensus declaration at the end of the summit this weekend, despite the United States’ objection on the grounds that it will not be participating in the negotiations.
Ramaphosa says US discussing coming to G20 in South Africa, White House denies
Ramaphosa say US has had a last minute change of mind
White House says US will not participate in discussion
US chargé d’affaires to attend G20 handover ceremony
Trump rejects summit’s focus on solidarity, climate
(Reuters) – South Africa’s president said on Thursday the U.S. had signalled it might change its mind and participate in the G20 summit in Johannesburg after a boycott by the Trump administration, but the White House dismissed the report as “fake news.”

The G20 Can No Longer Postpone Debt Relief
Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe urges members to devise a framework that would reduce Africa’s liabilities and enable its green transition.

At the first G20 summit held in Africa, leaders urge the rich world to do more against climate disasters
(AP) — In South Africa ’s oldest township, volunteers in wetsuits jump into the thigh-deep water of the polluted Jukskei River to untangle a net that’s designed to trap garbage but damaged by heavy rains. Without the nets, the shacks of low-lying Alexandra on the outskirts of Johannesburg could face disastrous flooding.
World leaders with the Group of 20 rich and developing nations will meet this weekend in Johannesburg for the bloc’s first summit in Africa. Host South Africa wants to prioritize issues affecting poor countries, including responses to disasters made worse by climate change.
South Africa will urge rich countries and international financial institutions to help more — a plea also being made at global climate talks in Brazil.
“The ravages of the climate are directly linked to the ravages of inequality,” Binaifer Nowrojee, president of the Open Society Foundations, a non-governmental organization promoting democracy and governance, told The Associated Press. “Countries are facing the destructive choice between growing their economies and taking climate action.”
The World Bank says the poorest countries were hit by nearly eight times as many natural disasters in the decade from 2010-2020 as they were from 1980-1990.
Climate financing has been a focus of sharp debate between rich and poor countries at major summits like the G20.
Rich countries agreed at last year’s United Nations climate summit to pool at least $300 billion a year by 2035 to help developing countries deal with the impacts of climate change and weather disasters. But independent experts said much more — an estimated $1 trillion a year — was needed by 2030.

19 November
What is the G20 and why does it matter?
(WE Forum) This year’s Group of 20 (G20) Summit is being held in South Africa – the first time an African nation has hosted – with a focus on helping developing economies adapt to the climate crisis, transition to clean energy and cut excessive debt.
South Africa has held the Presidency since 1 December 2024, operating under the theme of ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability’. The Summit, held in Johannesburg on 22 and 23 November, is the culmination of almost a year of international meetings and negotiations to bridge the gap between the Global North and South.
“When South Africa assumed the G20 Chairship last year, the world was navigating a precarious geopolitical climate,” said Ronald O Lamola, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, in the run-up to the Summit. “Our response was clear and courageous: the world needs more Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability. These are not just words, they are the pillars of our Presidency, rooted deeply in the African philosophy of Ubuntu … ‘I am because we are’.”

18 November
South Africa rises above US snub as G20 nears
As Johannesburg prepares to host Africa’s first ever G20 summit, South Africa aims to showcase its diplomatic and economic potential despite the US boycott.
(DW) The first G20 summit to be held on African soil is a big moment for South Africa, which is trying to straddle its role as a BRICS member, while remaining a valued trade partner for Western democracies.
But for Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, president and CEO of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), South Africa’s focus on solidarity, equality, and sustainability has been refreshing.
“It comes at a time when the world is starting to recognize that Africa is central to solving a lot of the global challenges,” Owusu-Gyamfi told DW, adding that “global growth and stability depend on whether the African continent’s trajectory is good or bad.”
She points to Africa’s fast growing, young population, its increasing share of the global workforce, and sovereignty over a “significant percentage of the critical minerals that we need for green growth.”

16 November
G20 Task Force Urges Formation of Global Panel to Tackle ‘Inequality Emergency’
Ramaphosa’s G20 legacy could be a global push to tackle inequality and strengthen democracy.
The G20 Inequality Committee, appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has urged the formation of a new International Panel on Inequality (IPI) to support policymaking internationally, in its first report on inequality to the global forum.
The Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality, chaired by Nobel Economics Prize Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, examined global inequality and its impact on growth, poverty and multilateralism. It also proposed policies that might address global wealth inequality’s most adverse effects.
“Today’s inequalities are not the result of the laws of nature. They are the result of what we, as nations and the global community, have done. Inequality is a choice. It is not inevitable and can be reversed with political will,” reads the 69-page report published on Tuesday, 4 November.

14 November
Africa’s G20 agenda can help shape a more stable and prosperous world
Climate finance, debt relief, global financial reform, and inequality may top Africa’s agenda, but they should equally shape global policy, as the world’s collective stability and prosperity depend on Africa’s future.
(African Business) With the G20 heads of state summit drawing closer, Africa is racing to rally global support for its agenda. South Africa’s presidency is seeking to drive consensus and action on priority issues like climate finance, debt relief, global financial reform, and inequality. But why should leaders outside of Africa take on these challenges with the same gusto as Africa’s leaders? Because it is in their self-interest to do so. Success or failure in these matters will have far-reaching implications not only for Africa’s future, but for the world’s collective stability and prosperity.
The 21st century is unmistakably the African century. The continent is undergoing a major demographic transformation that has magnified its role in the global order. Approximately 1.5bn people or 18% of the global population currently live in Africa. However, by 2050, the UN projects that 2.5bn people – or 25% of the world’s population at the time – will be living on the continent. Its share of the world’s population is set to reach close to 40% percent by 2100.
Indeed, five of the eight countries expected to drive more than half of global population growth over the next three decades are African. These include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Egypt. The working-age population in these African countries, and in many others across the continent, will grow faster than any other age group. In contrast, many other regions face stagnating or declining populations, underscoring Africa’s centrality to future migration flows, labour markets, supply chains, innovation, and global demand.

8 November
Trump says no US government official will attend G20 summit in South Africa
Trump cites ‘human rights abuses’ against white Afrikaners
South Africa says persecution claims ‘not substantiated by fact’
(Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Friday that no U.S. government official would attend the Group of 20 summit in South Africa later this month, because of what he said were “human rights abuses” taking place in the country.
South Africa’s foreign ministry described the decision as “regrettable” and repeated its rejection of Trump’s claims that white Afrikaners face persecution based on their race in the Black-majority country.