The G20 meets this weekend – and the rest of Africa may get to join South Africa at the table

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Nigerian counterpart, Bola Tinumbu, will attend this year’s (G20) summit in New Delhi, India,

• Nigeria is the only non-G20 African country invited to the G20 summit this weekend.
• But hopes are high that the African Union will be admitted to the G20 to be a collective representative the continent.
• Russian and Chinese absence could overshadow Africa’s hopes at the G20.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Nigerian counterpart, Bola Tinumbu, will attend this year’s Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi, India, with world leaders potentially creating a seat for the African Union (AU) this weekend.

South Africa is the only African country that is part of the G20.

There’s a push for Nigeria and the AU to be included in the power circle. 

Bloomberg reported sources saying that the G20 had agreed to grant the AU permanent membership status, and would announce the decision this weekend.

If that happens, it will cease to be known by the suffix 20, which represents the number of intergovernmental forums, comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU).

However, by Thursday night, the AU, in a statement, said it had not received a direct invitation to the summit.

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Lynne Muthoni Wanyeki, the executive director of Open Society-Africa, told News24 that admitting Africa to the G20 would be a step towards empowering the continent.

“Africa has demanded more voice and urgency in the multilateral system for decades. This step of admitting Africa collectively to the G20 is one step towards that goal,” she said.

Membership in Africa is important because around 80% of the world’s economic output, almost 75% of its exports and about 60% of its population, are accounted for by the G20 countries.

Abdalla Omer Bashir Elhusain, Sudan’s ambassador to India, said joining the G20 would go a long way toward helping Africa amplify its challenges and draw global attention.

He said: 

Since early this year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made numerous statements and promises that he would push for Africa’s admission when he hosts global leaders for the summit that starts on Saturday.

The G20 has divisions around trade, climate change, migration, and the war in Ukraine, all of which affect Africa.

Geopolitical rivals the United States, Russia, and China are set for a big stage of disagreements at the summit.

Already, Russia, which won’t attend, has declared that it will block the final G20 declaration if its views on Ukraine and other global crises are not acknowledged.

China’s President Xi Jinping might also not attend.

In separate meetings with African heads of state and AU officials, the three powers voiced support for the inclusion of Africa.

But their disgruntlement with each other might be a spoiler for Africa.

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In relation to the conflict in Ukraine, Russia said it was ready to send grain to countries such as Zimbabwe with the help of Turkey in the near future.

But US President Biden is heading to the G20 Summit while there are diplomatic offensives to reach out to Russia to allow the resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Vedant Patel, the principal deputy spokesperson for the US State Department, said in a briefing to the media, “The one thing that I can say clearly is that it is our goal and our hope that Russia re-enters the Black Sea Grain Initiative so grain and food products can get to the places that they need to go.”

He added, “We have no reason to think that diplomacy is not possible to get some of this done.”