Africa takes centre stage as the G20 convenes in Johannesburg for the first time, with South Africa leading calls for multilateral reform. Amid rising debt, climate crises, and global inequality, Pretoria seeks to amplify Africa’s voice and push for systemic change. The summit could redefine Africa’s role in shaping global governance and the future world order.
JUSTUS NAM | NAIROBI, KENYA
EXPERT ON AFRICA | GEOPOLITICAL ANALYST FOR NEWS ANALYTICS
a 5 mins read.
When the world’s most powerful leaders convene in Johannesburg for the upcoming G20 Summit on 22–23 November 2025, the meeting will carry significance far beyond the host city, shaping debates on multilateral reform and the future of global governance. For the first time in the grouping’s history, the G20 meets on African soil, marking a defining moment for a continent long at the margins of global governance. This is not simply South Africa’s turn in a rotating presidency; it is Africa’s G20 moment, one that symbolises a historic shift in the world order. Under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership, and with the presidency’s theme of ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability,’ inspired by the African philosophy of ubuntu, South Africa is positioning the summit as a platform to demand overdue reform of multilateral institutions and to amplify the Global South’s call for a more just, representative, and sustainable system of international cooperation.
AFRICA RISING
This moment is decades in the making. Africa is no longer merely a subject of global discussions on aid, conflict, or climate vulnerability. It is increasingly an active agent of change. With its population projected to nearly triple from about 1.3 billion today to roughly 3.9 billion by 2100, vast mineral reserves critical for the green energy transition, and some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, including Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, the continent possesses undeniable demographic and economic leverage. The African Union’s accession in 2023 as a permanent member of the G20 formalised this rising influence. South Africa, as both a G20 and BRICS (the emerging economies bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) member, now bears the weighty responsibility of channelling Africa’s collective voice into tangible outcomes. Johannesburg is therefore not just another summit. It is a stage where Africa insists on being recognised as a co-author of global rules, not merely their subject.
REFORMING INSTITUTIONS
At the heart of Africa’s agenda is the urgent reform of multilateral institutions designed in the aftermath of the Second World War. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank reflect a 1945 balance of power that no longer corresponds to today’s realities. The UNSC’s legitimacy is increasingly questioned. Africa, the region most frequently on its agenda, has no permanent representation among the five veto-wielding members. South Africa argues that the Council cannot claim credibility while systematically excluding over a billion Africans from permanent decision-making structures. Expansion to include permanent African representation, Pretoria insists, is not just symbolic but essential for global security.
The IMF and World Bank face similar crises of legitimacy. Despite accounting for approximately 18% of the world’s population, Africa collectively holds less than 7% of the voting power in the IMF—less than Germany alone. This imbalance skews policy. More than half of low-income countries are now in or at high risk of debt distress, according to the World Bank, yet the solutions on offer remain inadequate. From Zambia to Ghana, debt restructuring has dragged on, often tied to painful austerity measures that stifle growth and erode public trust.
South Africa, backed by African peers, is pushing for reforms that include:
- Restructuring IMF quotas to reflect today’s economic weight;
- Expanding local-currency lending and reducing reliance on the dollar;
- Creating lending frameworks sensitive to climate and biodiversity costs;
- Improving transparency in credit-rating methodologies; and
- Establishing fairer mechanisms for debt sustainability.
If these changes are advanced, they will not only benefit Africa but also restore global confidence in multilateralism at a time when it is under severe strain.
For Pretoria, the G20’s challenge is to provide systemic crisis financing and enduring solutions, not stopgaps, while placing climate justice firmly at the heart of discussions.
INEQUALITY AND DEBT
South Africa has sought to use its presidency to highlight issues affecting poorer nations, particularly rising inequality and sovereign debt. President Ramaphosa recently launched a G20 expert task force on global wealth inequality, led by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. Their findings will be tabled in Johannesburg, with proposals ranging from progressive global wealth taxes to fairer frameworks for development financing. The timing is crucial. Today, the most recent comprehensive data from the World Inequality Report 2022 shows that the richest 10% of humanity own 76% of global wealth, while the poorest half hold just 2%. More recent analyses suggest the gap has only deepened. The latest UBS Global Wealth Report, summarised by some newspaper reports in 2025, finds that just 1.6% of adults now control nearly half of the world’s $470 trillion in assets.
Africa’s debt crisis is equally urgent. According to the IMF, more than 20 African countries spend more on debt servicing than on health and education combined. For Pretoria, the G20 must deliver more responsive crisis financing and systemic solutions—not temporary fixes. Climate justice will also be central. Africa contributes just 4% of global emissions, yet suffers the worst consequences. The 2022 floods in Nigeria, the 2023 droughts in the Horn of Africa, and South Africa’s own rolling blackouts highlight the continent’s vulnerability. South Africa will press for the fulfilment of the \$100 billion annual climate finance pledge and the expansion of Just Energy Transition (JET) Partnerships, ensuring that Africa can decarbonise without sacrificing industrialisation and job creation.
GEOPOLITICAL BALANCING
South Africa’s task is complicated by its precarious geopolitical position. As a founding member of BRICS, South Africa belongs to a bloc that positions itself as a counterweight to Western hegemony. BRICS, which has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, and Iran, now accounts for around 35% of global GDP (PPP), compared to the G7’s 30%. It is pioneering financial alternatives through the New Development Bank and promoting trade in local currencies to reduce dependence on the US dollar.
This alignment enhances South Africa’s leverage, but also creates tensions with the United States and its allies. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pretoria has maintained a non-aligned stance, calling for dialogue rather than signing on to Western sanctions. Its naval exercises with Russia and China earlier this year, coupled with allegations of covert arms transfers to Moscow, pushed US–South Africa relations to their lowest point since apartheid. In Washington, frustration is mounting. Congress has debated measures to reassess South Africa’s eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). US President Donald Trump even threatened to boycott the Johannesburg summit over South Africa’s land expropriation law, framing it as ‘anti-white genocide.’ Meanwhile, US officials have warned that Pretoria’s ‘anti-American tilt’ undermines trust.
Despite this, South Africa knows it cannot afford to alienate the West. The US and EU remain among Africa’s largest trading partners and sources of investment. Moreover, cooperation from G7 powers is essential to advance the very multilateral reforms Africa seeks. Ramaphosa’s strategy, therefore, is to frame Africa’s demands not as an attack on the West but as a necessary evolution to secure global stability in the face of borderless challenges like climate change, pandemics, and financial instability.
HISTORICAL ECHOES
The symbolism of Johannesburg in 2025 echoes longer historical currents. In 1955, newly independent leaders gathered in Bandung, Indonesia, to chart a path of autonomy for Asia and Africa. That meeting laid the groundwork for the Non-Aligned Movement, declaring that the Global South would not be trapped in Cold War binaries. Seventy years later, Johannesburg may mark a similar turning point. But unlike Bandung, which was primarily declarative, the G20 summit must be operational. Its test will be whether Africa’s rhetorical calls for justice are translated into structural reforms—on IMF quotas, debt relief, and climate financing. If so, Johannesburg could represent the most significant shift in global governance since the Cold War’s end.
Success hinges not on rapid institutional overhaul, but on South Africa forging consensus, sustaining Africa’s visibility, and driving momentum towards long-term structural reforms.
South Africa’s G20 stewardship faces multiple hurdles:
- African Unity: With the AU now a permanent G20 member, the continent must avoid fragmentation. Divergences among heavyweights like Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt risk diluting Africa’s bargaining power.
- Western Engagement: If the US and EU disengage or boycott, reforms could stall. Without consensus, South Africa’s presidency risks being remembered for lofty rhetoric but little progress.
- Concrete Deliverables: The G20 is often accused of producing statements without substance. Johannesburg must deliver measurable steps on MDB reform, climate finance, and debt restructuring.
- Global Rivalries: Rising US–China tensions risk overshadowing Africa’s agenda. South Africa must keep the summit from becoming a proxy battlefield for great power politics.
The Johannesburg G20 Summit is more than a diplomatic gathering. It is a statement of Africa’s rising agency in global governance. South Africa’s presidency, anchored in the ubuntu-inspired theme of ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability,’ embodies the continent’s insistence on equity, inclusion, and reform. Success will not be measured by overnight institutional overhauls—those take decades, but by whether South Africa can forge consensus, keep Africa’s priorities visible, and build momentum for structural change. If it succeeds, Johannesburg may be remembered as the moment when Africa shifted from the periphery to the centre of global decision-making. From Bandung in 1955 to Johannesburg in 2025, the arc of history is unmistakable: the Global South is no longer content to sit on the margins. Africa’s G20 moment has arrived. Whether the world listens will shape not only the legacy of this summit but also the contours of international cooperation for decades to come.
(Justus Nam is a geopolitical analyst for The News Analytics Herald and a former Research Fellow at the Lancaster University China Centre. He specialises in African politics, diplomacy, and the shifting global power dynamics that shape the continent’s future. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The News Analytics Herald.)
Key Takeaways
- Africa hosts its first G20 Summit, symbolising its rising global influence.
- South Africa pushes reform of UNSC, IMF, and World Bank structures.
- Key agenda: debt relief, fairer IMF quotas, climate finance, inequality reduction.
- Geopolitical balancing between BRICS and Western cooperation will be the focus.
- G20 2025 could mark Africa’s shift from periphery to global decision-making centre.
