The Brazilian head of state, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, officially closed the G20 on Tuesday, November 19, passing the torch of presidency to his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.
In his speech, the icon of the Brazilian left underlined the historic nature of this moment, specifying that, for the first time, each G20 member state will have held the presidency at least once.
In the opinion of the South African side, this presidency constitutes a unique opportunity to highlight the priorities of the black continent within the international community. In accordance with Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU), South Africa wants to focus its efforts on the fight against inequalities, the development of infrastructure and the reform of global institutions.
Pretoria also plans to address various crises, such as global warming, food security and energy, which have a disproportionate impact on developing countries.
The South African presidency of the G20 constitutes a crucial milestone for this grouping, whose very recent integration of the AU as a permanent member is the most eloquent proof of the growing recognition of the role of the African continent in foreign affairs in the global level.
