Africa has a unique opportunity to shape global economic policies and secure tangible benefits from the G20, and it is up to African nations to seize it, Mikatekiso Kubayi, Senior Researcher in International Relations at the Institute for Global Dialogue at UNISA, told Sputnik Africa.
"It's up to African countries to seize the opportunity to prosper, to collaborate with others, to develop," Kubayi emphasized. "To partner with the G20 countries or rather to benefit from decisions of the G20 resolutions, that is an important goal, an important objective to want to push for, especially given that Africa is holding the presence of the G20 for the first time ever."
The G20, which brings together the world’s largest economies, offers a critical platform for Africa to advocate for reforms in global governance, finance, and trade, the researcher underscored.
"You are bringing the developed economies, Western developed economies, together with the Global South economies and the emerging powers, emerging markets under one roof, around the table," he said.
One of the key areas where Africa stands to benefit is in pushing for financial and trade reforms that can foster regional economic growth.
"For instance, we all know that hegemon's veto on certain decisions and you have to persuade, constantly persuade them when the Global South in particular requires particular reforms to the global financial architecture, particular reforms to the global trading system, particular reforms to allow the establishment and the development of regional value chains," Kubayi noted.
Beyond economic discussions, the G20 also has a responsibility to address pressing global conflicts, including those in Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Palestine.
"Now, if you locate the centrality on the United Nations charter and on the work of the G20, then you're essentially saying that all of those principles, such as the promotion of prosperity, peaceful coexistence, the promotion of development, the promotion of the avoidance of conflict, and so on and so forth, are the foundational principles of the work of the G20 as well," Kubayi concluded.