Some G20 Partners Walking Away From SDGs, Joint Committee Meeting of Committees on Trade Hears

The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade, Ms Sonja Boshoff, has called on the Department of Trade, Industry and Cooperation to assess domestic trade policies with a view to align with G20 priorities.

Ms Boshoff addressed a joint meeting with the Portfolio Committee on Trade, where the department briefed the committee on South Africa’s G20 Presidency and the opportunities associated with chairing the G20.

Ms Boshoff said: “The policies formulated within the G20 framework directly impact our trade and industrial strategies, investment, climate and economic resilience. It is imperative that we focus on strategies that will ensure South Africa maximises the benefits of its G20 membership. We must critically assess how to align our domestic trade and industrial policies with G20 priorities while advocating for Africa’s development agenda.”

The committees heard that so challenging were the escalating geopolitical tensions that some of the key members of the G20 were now starting to move away from sustainable development matters. The department also sees potential to leverage the G20 Presidency and is working with the African Union to advance the objectives of Agenda 2063.

The department’s Deputy Director-General, Ms Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter, said the department is seeking to advance the work of achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), including the G20 support for industrialisation in Africa and the least-developed countries.

She said: “We want to ensure outcomes promote efficient responses to the current global economic climate and energy crisis, the debt crisis facing African and other developing countries, and to curb illicit financial flows in an effort to accord developing countries a fair opportunity at sustainable development.”

Members asked questions on various issues, including the dominance of the West on deciding matters of trade without even requiring a voice from developing countries. Other issues that members raised included investments that leave developing nations indebted, the role members could play, projects where beneficiation at source happened, and the actual cost associated with the G20 Presidency.

Ms Boshoff said G20 is a critical forum for global economic cooperation, “It is through collaboration, policy coherence and decisive leadership that we can drive economic growth and prosperity for all South Africans.”

Sibongile Maputi
18 March 2025