By Fawzia Moodley:
As President Cyril Ramaphosa prepares to chair the first-ever G20 Leaders Summit on African soil, in Johannesburg this week (Nov 22 -24), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of Africa’s and indeed the Global South’s biggest champions, will be among the world leaders supporting his agenda for a more equitable global dispensation.
While media attention has been on US President Donald Trump’s churlish refusal to attend the event in person, or even have an American presence at the summit, and the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the G20 show goes on.
The representatives of 42 countries at the summit, including Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Chinese Premier Li Quang, are gathering at a turbulent time with high levels of global inequality, climate change, the genocide in Palestine, and the resurgence of fascism in parts of the Western world.
South Africa’s leadership of the 2025 G20 is underpinned by the summit theme: “Fostering Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainable Development”, to tackle these critical global challenges with a particular emphasis on Africa’s development.
Promoting Africa’s interests
India, and especially Modi, has been at the forefront of promoting the interests of the developing world, the Global South, and Africa in particular. It was under India’s leadership of the G20 in 2023 that the African Union (AU), was accepted into the Group of 20, on par with the European Union. South Africa, which had long been lobbying for the AU’s admittance to the G20, has credited India for its role in getting Africa a seat at the table of this body.
The country’s envoy in New Delhi, Anil Sooklal, acknowledged this ahead of Modi’s trip to South Africa, in a interview with IANS (indo-Asian News Service), where he said: “We must recall that it was through his efforts, and that of the Indian government, who championed the inclusion of the African Union into the G20 as a full member during India’s presidency in 2023.”
Ramaphosa and Modi are set to hold an important bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit, where they are expected to solidify existing relations and explore further areas of cooperation such as security, trade and investment, and people-to-people contact.
Sookalal noted that India, as South Africa’s third-largest trading partner, was one of the country’s leading global partners. “We have a very deep foundation that underpins our relationship. The cooperation we have within the multilateral domain, in terms of bilateral trade, is very vibrant; it continues to grow,” he said.
G20 Africa Expert Panel
Under South Africa’s Presidency, the interests of Africa, as evidenced in the Report of the G20 Africa Expert Panel, are taking centre stage. Speaking at the handover of the report on Sunday, Ramaphosa remarked that this was a milestone in the country’s G20 presidency, which has sought to advance solutions for the issues that matter most to the African continent.”
Noting that the summit takes place at a time of complex and urgent global challenges, he added: ”The solutions to many of these challenges can be found on our continent. The Panel’s Report reminds us that the greatest opportunity for global prosperity in the 21st century lies in Africa.
“We have a youthful and growing population, dynamic and innovative societies, and a wealth of natural resources. This includes the critical minerals needed to power new technologies around the world.”
Call for New Partnership
Echoing India’s call for the reconfiguring of the debt burden on developing countries, which impacts their ability to progress economically, Ramaphosa called for a new partnership, “between Africa and the G20, and between Africa and the world,” to focus on mobilising financing for Africa to make “productive investment in its infrastructure. “
Yet another indicator of the warm relations between Pretoria and New Delhi was the comments by the Chair of Parliament’s International Relations Committee, Supra Mahumapelo, about the G20 being an opportunity to “amplify Africa’s voice, none more so than our enduring partnership with India.”
Unwavering commitment
Noting that this was Modi’s fourth visit to South Africa since 2014, Mahumapelo said this signalled the Indian PM’s “unwavering commitment to deepening India-SA ties”, which goes as far back as New Delhi’s support for the country’s struggle against apartheid, and had been strengthened through various multilateral forums, including BRICS.
The US may not be present, and Ramaphosa may ceremonially pass on the G20 baton to the US – which takes over the G20 Presidency next year – to an empty chair where Donald Trump ought to have been seated, but the G20 train chuggs along, with the help of countries like India and South Africa striving for a more just and equal world order – @NewsSA_Online.
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