The G20, an international forum uniting 19 nations plus two regional blocs, commands striking global reach and influence. Its member states account for approximately 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and nearly 75 per cent of international trade. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the G20 area recorded a GDP growth of 3.4 per cent year on year, though only 0.8 per cent quarter on quarter, signalling mixed momentum across constituent economies. Meanwhile, global real GDP growth for emerging and developing economies is projected at 3.7 per cent for 2025, while advanced economies hover around 1.4 per cent.
In such a setting, high stakes diplomacy and economic coordination matter more than ever. The forthcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg, hosted by Johannesburg under the presidency of South Africa, offers a rare inflection point, especially for Africa. This summit presents Africa not merely as a thematic sideline but as a pivotal actor in global governance, macroeconomic architecture and diplomatic leadership.
READ ALSO: Beyond Symbolism: Turning Africa’s G20 Spotlight Into Sustainable Growth
South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile has emphasised that the G20 presidency is being leveraged to “amplify the voices of developing nations” and push for a fairer global financial system. Speaking at the Türkiye-Africa Business and Economic Forum in Istanbul, Mashatile highlighted the urgency of reforming the international debt architecture, noting that high financing costs and the prioritisation of debt service over essential development needs must be addressed. He added, “Our initiative will renew efforts to tackle the critical issue of debt sustainability, with a particular emphasis on Africa and the Global South.”
South Africa’s assumption of the G20 presidency (from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025) marks the first time an African nation has held the rotating leadership of the forum. With this presidency comes the theme: “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability”. This thematic orientation reveals a deliberate positioning of the continent’s priorities within the global arena.
For Africa, the implications are manifold. First, the presidency grants the continent enhanced diplomatic visibility and agenda setting power. Africa moves from being referenced in the margins of global economic policy to being at the table where major decisions are made. Second, it offers African states the opportunity to realign global economic structures, such as debt architecture, climate finance, energy transition funding and extractive resource governance, in ways that better reflect the needs of developing economies.
This is not mere symbolic progress. Africa’s diplomatic posture and economic leadership could be reshaped by how Johannesburg leverages the G20 presidency to shift the balance of global economic governance in favour of greater fairness, structural reform and investment flows.
Diplomatic leadership for Africa in Johannesburg will hinge on three interlinked facets: agenda shaping, coalition building and normative transmission.
South Africa’s presidency has foregrounded four priority areas: strengthening disaster resilience and response; securing debt sustainability for low income countries; mobilising finance for a just energy transition; and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth. Each of these pillars dovetails with Africa’s long-standing diplomatic narratives and opens avenues for African states to form coalitions within the G20 framework.
Take debt sustainability: the region has long been hampered by high debt-service burdens, limited fiscal space and elevated financing costs. By placing this issue centre stage, the Johannesburg summit empowers African leaders to shift from plea to policy partner. The proposed “Cost of Capital Commission” under the presidency seeks to examine the causes behind high financing costs in developing economies.
Similarly, in the domain of critical minerals, Africa’s resource rich states can leverage the forum to negotiate structures that ensure local benefit, industrialisation and value addition, as opposed to raw material extraction alone.
On diplomatic fronts, the African Union’s (AU) inclusion as a permanent G20 member only reinforces the continent’s leverage. The Johannesburg summit thereby becomes a site where Africa can develop its own narrative and push for global norms that align with its interests, not simply respond to frameworks designed elsewhere.
Economically, the Johannesburg summit offers Africa a chance to reposition itself from being perceived purely as a supplier of raw materials or recipient of aid, to a dynamic actor in trade, investment and the just transition mandates.
Global trade within the G20 rose by 2.0 per cent in exports and 3.1 per cent in imports in the first quarter of 2025, indicating ongoing but modest trade momentum. The world economy, however, is forecast to grow at just 2.8 per cent in 2025, its slowest decade since the 1960s. Against this backdrop, Africa must capitalise on the Johannesburg platform to attract investment, diversify trade and embed itself deeper in value chains.
The G20 presidency can help unlock new finance flows: for the energy transition, for industrialisation, for infrastructure. It can support Africa’s leap from extractive dependencies to manufacturing, services and digital economies. Aligning G20 mechanisms with African priorities, such as Africa’s Agenda 2063, could yield a shift in investment patterns, technology transfer and climate funding architecture.
In short, economic leadership for Africa via the Johannesburg summit means setting rules, terms and partnerships rather than merely responding to them.
The G20 Agenda Through an African Lens
While themes are compelling, impact lies in deliverables. Under the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” South Africa’s presidency has mapped out time-bound task forces and working groups focused on major issues: inclusive growth and industrialisation, food security, artificial intelligence (AI) and data governance.
For Africa, these agenda items translate into concrete openings. Industrialisation and employment can tap into the continent’s youthful demographic; food security is a critical issue, given that Africa remains home to many of the world’s out-of-school children and food-insecure populations; AI and data governance represent frontiers where Africa can leapfrog.
Moreover, South Africa emphasises the role of civil society, multistakeholder engagement and the inclusion of voices outside government, labour, youth, women, start-ups, to enrich the G20 process. This gives African non state actors a platform that has historically been difficult to access.
Risks and Realities
Despite the promise, the Johannesburg summit and Africa’s heightened role carry risks and constraints that must be navigated carefully.
The global economy is fragile. Growth forecasts for the broad global economy stand at 2.8 per cent in 2025 while advanced economy growth is only 1.4 per cent. Uneven recovery increases the risk that G20 priorities will revert to risk mitigation rather than bold structural reform. For Africa, this means that its agenda may compete with entrenched priorities of the Global North.
Diplomatically, there is also the risk of African agendas being overshadowed by geopolitical rivalries, between major powers or blocs within the G20. Africa’s leadership will depend on its ability to build strategic alliances and not be marginalised amidst larger power plays.
Finally, translating summit declarations into concrete policy and capital flows is notoriously difficult. The difference between rhetoric and delivery has plagued global governance for decades. Africa’s test will be in ensuring that the summit’s commitments become pipelines of finance, technology and trade, not simply ceremonial statements.
The 2025 G20 Johannesburg Summit presents a watershed moment for Africa’s diplomatic and economic leadership ambitions. It offers the continent the opportunity to transition from being the recipient of policy to being the architect of global frameworks. From debt sustainability to climate finance, from value chain participation to industrialisation, Africa stands to assert itself on the global stage.
In this light, Africa’s leadership cannot only be measured in attendance or speeches—but in the articulation of priorities, the mobilisation of partnerships and the forging of pathways from promise to impact. The summit will be judged not just by what is said, but by African agency in shaping global governance.
It is in this spirit that Africa, through Johannesburg can step into the role it has long sought: not merely part of the system, but one of its shapers.
