Rio de Janeiro – President João Lourenço attends the G20 summit for the first time, the 19th Summit of the world's 20 main economies, which will be joined by the European Union and the African Union from November 18 to 19, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Angola's president's presence , follows an invitation made by Brazil, which includes Portugal, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Nigeria, Norway and Singapore to take part in the meeting as observers, in addition to the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
From the point of view of Brazil, which ends its presidency on November 30, this select group, even if it is not one of the “wealthiest”, has a say in “Social Inclusion and the fight against hunger and poverty”, “Energy Transition and Sustainable Development” and “Reform of Global Governance Institutions”, which were chosen as priority issues.
The invitation to Angola to take part in the 2024 summit as an observer state was made by Brazilian President Lula da Silva during his official visit to the country in August 2023.
This comes in a context in which the Angolan authorities are implementing a continuous and ambitious program of macroeconomic reforms accompanied by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and other multilateral partners.
On a broader scale, during the 79th UN General Assembly in New York on September 24, the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, said Angola defends the urgent implementation of reforms that would lead to a fairer representation of African countries within the main international financial institutions.
According to the statesman, Africa wants to be increasingly present not only in the approach but also in the decision-making and resolution processes relating to the world's major issues, based on joint action to promote peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.
As for Brazil's presidency of the G20, Angola sees it as the rise of the countries of the “Global South” on the world stage and an opportunity to strengthen their voice on critical and urgent issues such as development, climate change, debt and the redefinition of international relations.
For the country, the current financial structure does not offer solutions to the challenges facing the Global South (developing countries) and therefore needs to be redesigned to ensure its effectiveness. Initially focused on general macroeconomic aspects.
Created in 1999, the G20 includes the eight countries considered to be the richest and most influential in the world (the G8), namely Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia.
To these are added 11 emerging countries, namely South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey, with permanent status.
The group is joined by the European Union and the African Union, which have been made permanent at the last summit held in India in September 2023, with a view to emphasizing Africa's voice and influencing decisions on key issues on the G20 agenda. The G20 or Group of 20 is basically made up of finance ministers and central bank governors.
From December 1, South Africa will assume the annual rotating presidency of the G20, whose focus will be on reviving and strengthening multilateralism and reforming the institutions of global governance to make them more representative.
According to the government, the mandate represents an opportunity for South Africa to put the continent's development priorities at the top of the agenda, as well as defend the country's economies at a global level.
On the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly, President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated the timeliness and necessity of the G20's “call to action on Global Governance Reform”.
The 18th G20 Summit was held in New Delhi from September 9 to 10, 2023, under the slogan “One Earth, One Family, One Future”.
The 1st G20 Summit was held in Washington on November 14-15, 2008, and approved the Action Plan to implement reforms in the functioning of financial institutions and intensify cooperation between regulators, promoting wider participation of emerging economies.ADR/TED/AMP
