'Quite delighted at leadership demonstrated by PM Modi': South Africa lauds African Union inclusion in G20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday officially declared the African Union (AU) as a permanent member of the G20 during the opening session of the G20 Leaders Summit taking place at Bharat Mandapam in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Hours after the announcement, Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said, “We’re quite delighted at the leadership demonstrated by PM Modi, demonstrated by the Indian government during its presidency of the G20. PM Modi has sought to focus this summit to opening up space for the Global South, to ensure that the voices of many smaller developing economic countries that were often excluded from these forums are included and that they are heard…”

He added, “It’s an important development to have the African continent included in such forums and processes. And we see it as an important step that signals more reform processes that we would like to see with respect to the United Nations Security Council, with respect to global multilateral financial institutions.”

G-20 in India | On African Union becoming a member of the G20, Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says, “It’s an important development to have the African continent included in such forums and processes. And we see it as an important step… pic.twitter.com/Wf1CXXVDhq

— ANI (@ANI) September 9, 2023

African Union is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The move to include the African Union into the G20 grouping was proposed by PM Modi earlier this June.

All member countries of the G20 accepted Modi’s proposal to bring the AU — a key bloc of the Global South — to the elite group of world’s top economies. “With support from all of you, I invite African Union to join G20,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said amid thunderous applause by world leaders at the summit.

With inputs from agencies