G-20 in Johannesburg
By Dr. D.K. Giri
(Prof of Practice, NIIS Group of Institutions)
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. Trump not only boycotted the Summit, he sent a charge’ d’ affairs at the last minute to collect the gavel at the closing handover ahead of its G-20 presidency in Florida. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa refused to accept this insulting gesture.
The other significant development was the assertive agenda set by South Africa underscoring Africa’s problems and aspirations. It is to be noted that G-20 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), the latter became a full member in the New Delhi Summit. Two other member-countries, Argentina and Mexico downgraded their delegations. The international organisations which were invited as Guest Participants included African Continental Free Trade Area (AFTA), African Development Bank (ADB), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (CMESA), East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Financial Stability Board (FAB), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), New Development Bank (NDB), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Centre (SC), South African Development Community (SADC), UN Trade and Development (UNTD), United Nations (UN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), World Bank (WB), World Customs Organisation (WCO), World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO).
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. Priorities included disaster resilience, debt sustainability, energy-transition finance (mobilising funds for renewable energy) and critical minerals. 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. Mzansi is a colloquial name for South Africa, and its agriculture sector is optimistic, aiming at leveraging global opportunities, securing technology to overcome challenges. The key themes of the sector include climate-smart farming, financial sustainability for new farmers, the integration of advanced technology and above all, youth empowerment. There is a segment call Mzansi Youth Farmers. 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 was addressing the third session on, “A fair and just future for all – critical minerals, decent work artificial intelligence.” He suggested further that technology applications should be global not national, should be inclusive not exclusive. He cited India’s experience which reflects this model in the India’s technology ecosystem. He assured the audience that this model has resulted in significant benefits in high-tech areas like Space applications, AI or Digital payments where it is a world leader.
The Prime Minister underscored the point that AI systems impact human life, security and public trust; so, it must be ‘responsible and auditable’. He underlined that “AI should enhance human capabilities, but the ultimate responsibility for decision making always remains with human beings”. The Prime Minister 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.
Interestingly, the next Summit will be held by the US presidency which boycotted the Johannesburg Summit, rejected the key agreements under South African presidency, criticised South Africa for its alleged persecution of white farmers and called Pretoria, the capital of South Africa as anti-American. What is more, Trump’s current ultimatum to Ukraine to accept the peace settlement by the Thanksgiving Day, 27 November divided the attention of those Group of Seven (G7) leaders who were attending the Johannesburg summit.
Strategically, South Africa enhanced Africa’s centrality in critical minerals as the Continent possess huge share of global reserves of Cobalt, Manganese, Platinum-group metals and rare earth. South Africa used the G-20 Summit to call for greater investment in exploration of these minerals, processing and manufacturing – not just shipping ores to China. This should align with Trump administrations’ focus on critical minerals. Trump does not regard critical minerals as a part of energy transition, but is concerned about resilience and diverse supply chains. He would like the world to be less dependent on Chinese manufacturing. Diverse supply would mean new mines, refining and processing capacity in many countries. Africa is certainly one such candidate.
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 deliberations being more about deregulation, fossil fuel driven energy supply and America First framing of trade and investment. So, while South Africa raised optimism for the African Continent and Global South, the G-20 members may hear a different sermon from Donald Trump. 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. — INFA