The G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg in 2025 is historic as the first ever to be held on African soil. It was both a logistical triumph for South Africa and a significant endorsement of Africa's accelerating transformation. The summit, preceded by 133 technical and ministerial meetings, revealed the contours of a transforming global environment in which Africa is no longer a marginal participant but an emerging centre of gravity.
While the world media initially focused on the US boycott and Washington's missed opportunity to demonstrate solidarity and global leadership, the summit itself told a different story: one of African competence, poise and increasingly cohesive political will. By hosting more than 100 government delegations and 60 heads of state, South Africa confirmed its established reputation for hosting complex, high-profile international negotiations. More importantly, the summit showcased the continent's strength, elegance and institutional maturity in the midst of a long-awaited recovery.
The central theme of the summit was Africa's modernisation agenda, enshrined in the Agenda 2063, the African Union Strategic Plan adopted in 2013 and officially launched in 2015. After a decade of slow but focused progress, this agenda has gained unmistakable momentum. Its emphasis on integration, industrialization, peace and shared prosperity has materialized into a unified continental narrative that is increasingly visible on global platforms.
The G20 results reflected this shift. Delegates and observers noted that the Johannesburg Summit offered a glimpse of Africa's potential as a cohesive, interconnected Union that profiles as a driver of global policies in green energy, industrial capacity and sustainable development.
One of the defining moments of the summit was the opening of the Initiative on Cooperation Supporting Modernization, introduced by China and South Africa. The event, which featured prominently Miao Deyu, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, and Lin Feng, Director General of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, emphasized the strong alignment of China's policy with Africa's development trajectory.
Miao stressed China's long-term commitment to African integration and Agenda 2063. He said that the modernisation of Africa is essential not only for the continent itself, but also for global stability and prosperity. He mentioned China's support for African infrastructure, industrial cooperation and human capital development as part of a shared future based on mutual respect and common progress.
Lin Feng stressed the importance of modernising Africa's trade architecture, strengthening local industrial capacity and ensuring fair, equitable and sustainable global supply chains. He affirmed China's readiness to deepen coordination on investment, trade facilitation and technological innovation, and to align China's development approach with African demands for value addition, green industrialization and equitable global governance.
Their presentations presented the initiative as part of a broader architecture of cooperation based on pillars:
- Green energy transition and responsible resource extraction
- Stability and sustainability as foundations for growth
- Restructuring predatory financial systems and unsustainable debt
- Innovation-led industrialisation and energy transition
China has embedded this initiative in its long-term philosophy of people-centred development, building on the call by President Xi Jinping G20 in Hangzhou in 2016 to promote the industrialisation of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Since then, platforms such as FOCAC, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the duty-free regime for African exports have strengthened cooperation between China and Africa.
Prime Minister Li Qiang, head of the Chinese delegation to the G20, reiterated this commitment in the first session of the summit, saying that as a developing country responsible for 1.5 billion people, China sees a self-reliant and resilient Africa as an indispensable partner for global modernisation.
China also took the opportunity to call on the UN - on the occasion of its 80th anniversary - to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It noted that 25 years after the Millennium Development Goals, the gap in financing for development remains significant.
These messages resonated strongly with African delegates, who are increasingly advocating for people-centred governance models, adapted to African realities and based on citizen participation.
Critical minerals became one of the main strategic themes of the Summit. Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, gave a compelling presentation on Green Mining and Minerals, in which he emphasised that Africa's mineral wealth will only bring prosperity if it is complemented by value addition and not just extraction alone.
He warned that the global climate finance gap of US$1.8 trillion a year could jeopardise development goals if funding is not forthcoming:
- more accessible
- more predictable and timely
- supported by multilateral development bank (MDB) reforms
- reinforced by the development of local capital markets
Indonesia has pledged support to Africa through:
- Policies supporting sustainable downstream investment
- Innovative financing of industrial capacity and technology
- Stronger regional value chains through shared infrastructure
Secretary-General of UNCTAD Rebeca Grynspan supported this position and recalled that Africa exports more than USD 250 billion worth of critical minerals annually but captures only 3 % of the value chain. This is clear evidence of the need for local processing and industrialization.
At the end of the summit, South Africa's Deputy Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Thandi Moraka said that the G20 has delivered tangible results focused on Africa. She recalled the seven aspirations of Agenda 2063, highlighted citizen-led development and praised China's peaceful and mutually beneficial approach.
Her words captured the essence of the Johannesburg Summit: Africa has moved from the periphery to the centre of global decision-making.
The launch of the modernisation initiative was both timely and symbolic. Africa has clearly declared that the political will exists to unite the continent, industrialise its economies and apply global leadership appropriate to its demographic, cultural and natural resources.
With 70 % people under the age of 30, Africa's future is not just promising - it is already happening. The world is taking notice of Africa's millennia of knowledge, its renewable energy potential and its emerging industrial capabilities. Despite geopolitical distractions such as the US boycott, the consensus was clear: South Africa had delivered a successful, vision-led G20, and Africa had reclaimed its place as a leader shaping the global future.
The Johannesburg G20 Summit will go down in history as the moment when Africa - confident, united and future-oriented - signalled to the world that the era of its marginalisation was over. The green shoots of transformation have begun to blossom, showing a continent ready to define the 21st century.
Kirtan Bhana, TDS
Thediplomaticsociety/gnews.cz - GH
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