Milestones and Shortcomings of South Africa’s G20 Presidency

Introduction

From 2024 to 2025, South Africa holds the G20 presidency, marking the first time an African country has led the rotating leadership of the world’s most important economic forum. Under the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” South Africa has articulated an ambitious agenda, aiming to elevate the priorities of the Global South, particularly in areas of inequality, development, and financial architecture reform. Beyond symbolism, this presidency represents a strategic attempt to recalibrate global governance, challenging the G20’s traditional growth and finance orthodoxy. However, ambition alone does not guarantee success. Evaluating both the achievements and constraints of this presidency is crucial as it nears its culmination.

Key Milestones

During its 2024–2025 tenure, Pretoria achieved several milestones that reflected its agenda to reshape G20 priorities:

1. Global Inequality: South Africa placed inequality at the forefront by launching an Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Wealth Inequality, chaired by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. This is the first time the G20 has commissioned a report solely dedicated to this issue.

2. Africa’s Development Agenda: The country hosted the first-ever G20 Development Working Group Ministerial in Africa at Kruger National Park, producing the Skukuza Development Ministerial Declaration, which included calls to action on social protection and illicit financial flows. The Africa Engagement Framework (2026–2030) was announced to establish long-term G20 and Africa cooperation.

3. Strategic Task Forces: South Africa established three task forces addressing cross-cutting global challenges:

   • Inclusive Economic Growth & Inequality

   • Food Security

   • AI, Data Governance & Innovation

4. Labour and Social Protection: The Employment Working Group advanced youth employment, gender pay equity, digitalization, and social protection, while the Development Working Group promoted universal social protection floors.

5. Financial Architecture Reform: The presidency focused on debt sustainability, capital costs, international tax capacity, and reforms to multilateral development banks to better support developing economies.

6. Ubuntu in Governance: South Africa embedded the African philosophical framework of Ubuntu, linking moral values to global economic governance and reinforcing its commitment to solidarity, equality, and sustainability.

Challenges and Limitations

Despite these milestones, the presidency faces structural and operational constraints:

1. Non-Binding Nature of the G20: Agreements rely on consensus, constraining reforms on contentious issues such as debt restructuring or taxation. Ambitious proposals, including a permanent inequality or cost-of-capital commission, risk being diluted or blocked by major powers with divergent priorities. The durability of initiatives also depends on follow-up by the next presidency.

2. Financial Reform Complexity: While South Africa called for reforms in debt architecture and capital costs, mechanisms for deep debt relief or equity-style financing remain unclear. Securing cooperation from major creditors (both state and private) is difficult, particularly for southern nations wary of conditionality or loss of sovereignty. Capacity constraints in lower-income countries further limit the adoption of G20-generated proposals, especially in social protection and financial reform.

Analysis and Implications

South Africa’s G20 presidency marks a strategic attempt to rebalance the forum’s traditional priorities. By centering inequality, Africa’s development, social protection, and financial architecture reform, it challenges the long-standing growth and finance orthodoxy while amplifying Global South perspectives.

The presidency’s key innovations, notably the Africa Engagement Framework (2026–2030) and the Independent Committee on Global Inequality, could become lasting institutional legacies. Their durability, however, depends on whether future presidencies actively sustain them. Historically, Global South-oriented agendas, such as Indonesia’s 2022 pandemic preparedness initiatives or India’s 2023 proposals on sustainable development financing, have often struggled to translate into operational reforms.

The tension between moral leadership and geopolitical reality is another central challenge. South Africa’s Ubuntu-centred approach offers an ethical counterweight to global fragmentation; however, systemic reforms such as debt restructuring or global tax cooperation require buy-in from the most powerful G20 members, whose interests often diverge from those of the Global South.

Domestic factors also shape the presidency’s credibility and capacity. South Africa faces high unemployment (~33% overall; ~60% youth) (Trading Economics, 2025), widespread gender-based and general violence, governance instability, infrastructure deficits, and economic stagnation. These crises limit diplomatic capacity and risk undermining global advocacy, but they simultaneously inform the presidency’s agenda, linking domestic urgencies to global priorities in inequality, social protection, employment, and inclusive growth.

Conclusion

South Africa’s G20 presidency is historic and ambitious, aiming to recenter global governance around inequality, Africa’s development, and financial reform. Its long-term legacy will depend on whether its proposals survive the G20’s consensus-driven, non-binding structure and whether future presidencies continue to carry them forward. The upcoming G20 Summit, scheduled for 22–23 November 2025, will be decisive in determining which initiatives gain political traction.

While international forums like the G20 can foster economic and political cooperation, nations must first address their domestic challenges, ensuring that global engagement complements, and not substitutes, the pursuit of stability, social well-being, and inclusive growth at home.

References

1. African National Congress. (2024). Government of South Africa: Statements and briefings.https://www.gov.za

   
   

2. BNP Paribas Economic Research. (2024, May 3). South Africa: A long, hard road. BNP Paribas. https://economic-research.bnpparibas.com/html/en-US/South-Africa-long-hard-road-5/3/2024,49573

3. Trading Economics. (2025, August 12). South Africa Jobless Rate Up to 1‑Year High. https://tradingeconomics.com/south‑africa/unemployment‑rate/news/477092

4. BNP Paribas Economic Research. (2024, October 15). South Africa at a crossroads. BNP Paribas. https://economic-research.bnpparibas.com/html/en-US/South-Africa-crossroads-10/15/2024,49947

5. G20. (2025). Presidency documents, working group communiqués, and press releases. G20 Secretariat. https://www.g20.org

6. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2025). OECD Economic Surveys: South Africa 2025. OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-economic-surveys-south-africa-2025_7e6a132a-en

7. Statista Research Department. (2024). Socioeconomic indicators: South Africa report 2024. Statista. https://www.statista.com/study/174049/socioeconomic-indicators-south-africa-report/

8. World Bank. (2023). South Africa economic update: Raising South Africa’s economic prospects by curbing crime. World Bank Publications. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/publication/raising-south-africa-s-afe-1123-economic-prospects-by-curbing-crime

9. World Bank. (2024). Climate Risk Country Profile: South Africa. Climate Change Knowledge Portal.https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/country-profiles/15932-WB_South%20Africa%20Country%20Profile-WEB.pdf