AFRICAN UNION BECOMES PERMANENT MEMBER OF G20

Sat 09 September 2023:

The inclusion of the African Union into the G20, the coalition of the world’s most powerful countries became the earliest historic step in the G20 Summit that began in New Delhi on Saturday.

“I invite the representative of the African Union to take his place as a permanent member of the G20,” Modi said.

The African Union – a regional bloc made up of 55 member states – joined the G20 as a permanent member amid applause from delegates after Modi invited them in his opening remark.

Soon after the invitation, AU President Azali Assoumani took his seat as a permanent member of the G20. India has made stressing to give voice to the Global South a centrepiece of this year’s summit.

There was widespread support for adding the AU to the G20, making it the second regional bloc to become a permanent member after the European Union.

“Congratulations to all of Africa!” said Senegal President Macky Sall, the previous AU chair who helped to push for membership. The AU had advocated for full membership for seven years, spokesperson Ebba Kalondo said. Until now, South Africa was the bloc’s only G20 member.

Africa is increasingly courting investment and political interest from a new generation of global powers beyond the U.S. and the continent’s former European colonizers. China is Africa’s largest trading partner and one of its largest lenders. Russia is its leading arms provider. Gulf nations have become some of the continent’s biggest investors. Turkey ’s largest overseas military base and embassy are in Somalia. Israel and Iran are increasing their outreach in search of partners.

With full G20 membership, the AU can represent a continent that’s home to the world’s largest free trade area. It’s also enormously rich in the resources the world needs to combat climate change, which Africa contributes to the least but is affected by the most.

The African continent has 60% of the world’s renewable energy assets and more than 30% of the minerals key to renewable and low-carbon technologies. Congo alone has almost half of the world’s cobalt, a metal essential for lithium-ion batteries, according to a United Nations report on Africa’s economic development released last month.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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