G20 Summit countdown well underway

As the Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders' Summit draws closer, South Africa, continues to facilitate meetings in preparation for the all-important gathering.

South Africa will host the G20 Leaders’ Summit on 22 and 23 November 2025 in Johannesburg under the theme, 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability'.

“The countdown to the G20 Leaders’ Summit is

underway. South Africa continues to host and facilitate preparatory meetings, and the adoption of declarations by different taskforce and work-streams,” said Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said on Friday at a Post Cabinet briefing in Pretoria.

Cabinet on Wednesday received an update on G20 preparations.

The following G20 Summit preparatory meetings were held over the past few weeks:

• The Sixth Health Working Group Meeting, which discussed strengthening the global health systems and preparing for future challenges.
• The Third Task Force 2 Meeting: Food Security in Egypt to address the main outcomes of the G20 Food Security Task Force, and also discussed the Ministerial Statement on global food security, which is expected to be adopted during the G20 Ministerial Meeting to be held in South Africa on 19 September 2025.

South Africa is gearing up for several important events in the coming months, including the G20 Compact with Africa in Johannesburg, a Food Security Meeting in Egypt, discussions on industrialisation and agriculture in Nigeria, and the second G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting.

Cabinet further welcomed the launch of the G20 Experts Taskforce by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

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The G20 Experts Taskforce will examine global wealth inequality and its impact on economic growth, poverty and multilateralism. 

“This initiative, which is the first of its kind for the G20, is in line with South Africa’s commitment to use its G20 Presidency to address issues that affect low-income countries, such as rising inequality and high sovereign debt burdens,” Ntshavheni said.

The G20 Expert Taskforce will deliver a report on global inequality to G20 world leaders at the G20 Leaders Summit in South Africa. 

Brazil officially transferred the Presidency of the G20 to South Africa at the closing ceremony of the 2024 annual summit in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024. This marked a historic moment, as South Africa became the first African nation to assume the G20 Presidency. – SAnews.gov.za