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This article was produced with the support of AUDA NEPAD
The world is at a critical juncture, facing unprecedented global uncertainty, flux, and poly-crises. Climate change, inflation, escalating debt vulnerabilities, unwinding multilateralism, protectionism, and rising global tensions are converging to threaten global stability. Amidst this chaos, South Africa’s G20 presidency offers a unique opportunity to shape the global agenda and secure commitments from powerful economies to address common critical issues with differentiated impacts, unfairly affecting developing nations.
Africa is particularly vulnerable to these global shocks. Persistent inflation, unsustainable debt, and currency depreciations are compounded by conflicts, such as the ones in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, raising concern about regional instability. Over a third of African countries are in debt distress or at high risk, with inflation rates averaging 13.9% in 2024.
Climate change remains an existential threat, with Africa bearing the brunt of extreme weather events despite its limited contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The imposition of carbon taxes will exacerbate debt vulnerabilities, while the absence of a uniform price of carbon and low returns on carbon offset projects in developing countries undermine efforts to transition to sustainable energy sources. Unfulfilled promises and empty COP pledges undermine commitment to global solidarity. The option of short-term gains threatens human existence and defeats the principles of purposeful life: solidarity for sustainable future.
To tackle these challenges, South Africa’s G20 presidency, the first ever African presidency of the G20, has adopted the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability.” The priorities focus on strengthening disaster resilience, ensuring debt sustainability, mobilizing finance for a just energy transition, and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth.
These priorities are already entailed in Africa’s programme for its development, Agenda 2063, and are at the core of the Second Ten Year Implementation plan of the Agenda adopted by African Heads of States at their annual summit in 2024. Reaffirming the view that, indeed, South Africa’s G20 Presidency is anchored in a truly African Agenda.
We are now three months into South Africa’s Presidency and the momentum is taking shape, with various meetings that bring global leaders already convened.
What is coming out clearly from these discussions is that African institutions must play a crucial role in translating the policy statements into concrete actions that will deliver tangible benefit for Africans. In this regard, the role of AUDA-NEPAD, the African Union’s Premier Development Agency, becomes critically important with its focus on implementation, coordination of the development landscape and mobilizing partnerships for development.
Indeed, the work that the Agency leads across the continent holds great potential to catalyze regional cooperation and champion innovation-driven transformations across the four priorities that South Africa has defined for its, and Africa’s, Presidency of the G20
For example, on energy transition, our Agency recognizes that Africa’s development requires a commitment to clean energy. Among the many areas of focus within this priority AUDA-NEPAD is using its strategic position as the continents technical interface with global partners to support the transfer of technology from developed nations and enable the continent’s transition to sustainable energy sources. AUDA-NEPAD’s collaboration with the African Development Bank to establish Mission 300 which focuses on mobilizing financing for some of the most critical clean energy projects across the continent it is a case in point. It is aimed at increasing Africa’s electricity production capacity and development of clean energy assets. This could assist in diversifying the energy sector, attracting investment, and ensuring that growth is environmentally responsible.
Key projects under the Continental Master Plan (CMP) and Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) focus on advancing regional network infrastructure integration and clean energy development. AUDA-NEPAD’s partnership with the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organisation (GEIDCO) is accelerating Africa’s transition to renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. We are working together to, among others, mobilise financing for green energy projects, conduct joint studies on critical energy infrastructure and strengthen capacity of our regional power pools for better energy planning.
We are equally, engaged through our programmes and various partnerships across all the South Africa’s G20 priorities.
To achieve impact across all the four priorities, we have to scale-up financing. The establishment of the African Union Development Fund, a strategic mechanism to mobilize sustainable financing by leveraging both public and private sector investments, demonstrates a clear commitment to this. The Africa Team Flagship Resource Mobilization Campaign, launched to coordinate and integrate the efforts of the Regional Economic Communities and AU institutions, is aligning over 300 high-impact regional initiatives valued at over $500 billion.
The success of South Africa’s G20 presidency hinges on African countries’ ability to translate commitments into concrete actions. AUDA-NEPAD is uniquely positioned to lead this implementation phase, providing technical knowledge-based and evidence-driven advisor services, coordinating development cooperation efforts, and fostering regional collaboration.
Ultimately, the sustainability of these efforts depends on African ownership and leadership of its own development agenda leading it towards its desired destination. Africa’s destiny cannot be continuously shifting with the changing geo-political positioning and shaped solely to respond to outside interests. The future of African development rests on the strength and effectiveness of its institutions like AUDA-NEPAD, AfCFTA, APRM, ACDC and AMA, which must navigate the complexities of global governance, poly-crises, and paradigm shifts to forge a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient future for the continent.
Africa is committed to transform its immense natural and human resources into wealth and manage the process of transformation towards sustainable prosperity and stop managing poverty. G-20 collaboration and global solidarity becomes more imperative than before.
