South Africa has sought to preserve the integrity and stature of the Group of 20 (G20) top economies, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said in opening remarks to the historic summit in Johannesburg, the first on the African continent. Ramaphosa said on Saturday that South Africa is committed to ensuring that the development priorities of the Global South and Africa find expression in the group’s agenda. The president added there is an overwhelming consensus that one of the summit’s tasks is to adopt a declaration, emphasising the need for “multilateralism” to confront “the threats facing humanity today”.
The United States, which is boycotting the summit, has demanded that the summit not issue a declaration. Ramaphosa has flatly rejected that. The summit started with an ambitious agenda to make progress on solving some of the longstanding problems that have afflicted the world’s poorest nations.