By DK Giri
The 20th G-20 meeting in the South African capital was marked by quite a few significant developments as well as a departure from its tradition: that was the leaders’ Declaration issued after the Summit. It was overshadowed and was almost at the risk of being defined by the absence of the ‘big three’ – the US President Donald Trump, Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The other significant development was the assertive agenda set by South Africa under scoring Africa’s problems and aspirations. It is to be noted that G20 summit was taking place for the first time in the African Continent. However, South Africa managed to secure the desired outcomes despite half-empty seats at the top and the disruptive US interventions. South Africa claimed it, “African moment” reflecting the realities of Global South especially of Africa – shocks of climate changes, unsustainable debt, growing inequality and Africa’s continuing desire to shift from mineral exports to securing greater value for their economies.
The Summit on 22 and 23 November 2025 was attended by 17 Heads of Member-States, two representatives of regional bodies – European Union and African Union. Two other member-countries, Argentina and Mexico downgraded their delegations. There were several international organisations, including African Continental Free Trade Area (AFTA), African Development Bank (ADB) as Guest Participants. Reflecting the African realities and aspirations, South Africa articulated the theme of the Summit, Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability. It is being interpreted as solidarity referring to close cooperation across diverse economies, rich and poor, equality referring to promoting equal opportunities and fair practices between and within countries, and sustainability aiming at a long-term development agenda that does not compromise the security of future generations. The G-20 presidency is basically managed by Sherpa Working Groups. They interact with different departments of the member countries and prepare the Summit agenda. They coordinate with the G-20 president’s representatives to conduct the operations. The Sherpa Track in Johannesburg consisted of 15 working groups – agriculture, anti-corruption, culture, development, digital economy, disaster risk-reduction, education, employment, empowerment of women, energy transitions, environment and climate sustainability, health, research and innovation, tourism, trade and investment. South Africa identified several areas of focus as agenda priorities and high-level priorities.
The high-level priorities were Priority 1 – inclusive economic growth, industrialisation, employment and reducing inequality; Priority 2 – food security. The summit sparked optimism for Mzansi agriculture in 2025. Priority 3 – artificial intelligence and innovation for sustainable development. On artificial intelligence (AI), Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a Global Compact to prevent misuse of AI and emphasised the need for critical technologies to be ‘human-centric’ instead of finance-centric. He announced that India would be hosting the AI Impact Summit in February 2026 with the theme ‘Sarvajanam Hitaya, Sarvajanam Sukhaya’ (welfare for all, happiness for all). Invoking India’s Vedic scriptures like the one quoted here by the Prime Minister, he articulated India’s message for global welfare, asserting that India stood for development that is sustainable, trade that is trusted, finance that is fair and progress in which everyone prospers. Strategically, South Africa enhanced Africa’s centrality in critical minerals as the continent possesshuge share of global reserves of Cobalt, Manganese, Platinum-group metals and rare earth.
Admittedly, South Africa bringing critical minerals to the centre-stage should feed into Trump’s G-20 at Doral, Florida next year. But many leaders are wary of Florida de liberations being more about deregulation, fossil fuel-driven energy supply and America First framing of trade and investment. Let us conclude that the road from South Africa to Florida will decide whether United States will build on the foundation laid in Johannesburg – solidarity, equality and sustainability – or will bury it under America First, which may undermine the value of the forum G-20. Let us hope not.
The writer is Professor of Practice, NIIS Group of Institutions
