G20 Country South Africa: Lone Member From Africa And Key Player

Being the only African country in the G20, South Africa represents the entire continent, bringing forward the challenges and opportunities that the region faces.

G20 Country South Africa President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa

Source : Getty

President: Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa

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A businessman-turned-politician, Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa is the fifth president of South Africa, serving since 2018.

South Africa is a vibrant and diverse nation at the southern tip of the African continent, and plays a significant role in the global economic landscape as a member of the Group of Twenty (G20). With its abundant natural resources, South Africa is the most industrialised economy in the continent and one of its largest too. Being the only African country in the G20, it represents the entire continent, bringing forward the challenges and opportunities that the region faces.

South Africa serves as a strategic gateway for trade between Africa and the rest of the world. Its membership in the G20 bolsters its position as a key player in global trade discussions.

South Africa will be taking up the G20 presidency in 2025.  

It participated in the G20 Leaders Summit held in the Republic of Indonesia on November 15 & 16, 2022. The summit was hosted by President Joko Widodo, under the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”. President Ramaphosa had addressed the working session on food and energy security, stating that affluent countries in the G20 must take more aggressive climate action and keep their financial promises to developing economies. South Africa, according to the President, will continue to pay its fair contribution to the global climate change effort through an equitable transition that promotes sustainable development.

At the working session on Global Health Architecture, South Africa had applauded the introduction of the pandemic Fund, to which it pledged to contribute in order to respond rapidly and effectively to the next pandemic. The Pandemic Fund was set up to facilitate collaboration, priority setting, resource pooling, knowledge transfer, and medical countermeasure research and development.
 
South Africa had requested that regional groups be asked to join the Task Force in order to better the functioning of this key organisation and increase the presence of lower-income nations. South Africa also supported the expansion of the G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force's mission.

The other members of the G20 are --  Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US, as well as the European Union.