Inside G20 SA 2025
South Africa will host the G20 Summit in Johannesburg on 22–23 November 2025, a key moment in its global leadership.
Inside G20 SA 2025
South Africa will host the G20 Summit in Johannesburg on 22–23 November 2025, a key moment in its global leadership.
This is a moment of great significance for South Africa, the African continent, and the world.
G20 EXPLAINED
Is the G20 summit a big deal?
Very big. The G20 represents about:
85% of global gross domestic product (GDP).
75% of international trade.
60% of the world’s population.
Which are the G20 countries?
There are 19 member countries and two blocs: the European Union and now the African Union. The countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye, the UK, and the US. This is 21, but the nomenclature of the G20 remains.
Is the G20 a single meeting in November 2025?
No, it’s a full year of meetings.
“Tens of thousands of delegates and support staff from the largest countries arrive in South Africa over the year-long presidency,” said Nguni.
Think of it as a one-year-long showcase for South Africa. Through the meetings, direct and indirect jobs will be created. The price tag will be between R1-billion and R2-billion, with much of it footed by sponsorships from the private sector. South Africa’s budget will be transparent in February.
The Treasury’s director-general, Duncan Pieterse, said: “From 1 December 2024 to 29 November 2025, there will be 130 virtual and in-person meetings across the country. It is a marathon of yearly international meetings to influence the global agenda and shape economic policy.
“It’s the premier global forum for discussing financial and global issues where developed and developing countries are represented,” he said.
How do negotiations and decisions work?
With great complexity. The G20 is not a binding body but operates on the principles of collective action and moral suasion. Deputy Reserve Bank Governor Rashaad Cassim said the best way to understand the G20 was as a relay where each country passed the baton to the next on the understanding that the country in the chair (South Africa from 1 December) did not start with a clean slate. About 75% of the issues were an existing foundation, while about 25% were new ones that emerged or that the host country regarded as important.
South Africa is the fourth country in the Global South to hold the chair after Indonesia, India, and Brazil.
Read more: SA takes G20 helm amid global political instability and shifting world order
“We all know what needs to be taken forward. It’s about how we can move the dial,” said Cassim.
Nguni described the G20 as an “informal governance club”. There is an overlap in G7 (the world’s largest country bloc) and G20 issues that span political, security, global economic and financial governance. Based on the chairing roster, the G20 is managed at any point by a troika of countries: the current troika from 1 December is Brazil, South Africa and the US.
According to the first media briefing last week, South Africa works in concert with the African Union to shape an African agenda that includes the debt crisis and creating a more equitable, representative, and fit-for-purpose global order.
What’s in it for South Africa?
Status and an opportunity to show what we can do as well as move the dial on global issues that are important to the Global South. The 2010 Fifa World Cup is a perfect example of how international events can work to enhance soft power, which can translate into growth and jobs. South Africa’s target is inclusive growth, industrialisation, employment and inequality. Other specific issues are food security (Brazil’s President Lula placed ending hunger at the top of his agenda), AI, and innovation for sustainable development.
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