By Thapelo Molefe
President Cyril Ramaphosa closed the 2025 G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg on Sunday by urging world leaders to confront global crises with renewed multilateral cooperation.
Presiding over the first G20 summit held on African soil, he said South Africa’s presidency was driven by a determination to put Africa’s development and the priorities of the Global South “at the heart of the G20’s agenda”.
He thanked G20 members and partner countries for their “steadfast support,” saying their cooperation had “reaffirmed the G20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation”.
“This summit has taken place at a crucial moment, as calls around the world grow louder for progress on the imperatives of our time: to end poverty in all its forms, to reduce inequality within and among countries, and to take urgent action to combat climate change,” Ramaphosa said.
He said hosting the summit in Africa was significance for the continent.
“The greatest opportunity for prosperity in the 21st century lies in Africa,” he said.
“Harnessing that opportunity will require a strong partnership between Africa and the G20, and indeed between Africa and the rest of the world.”
Ramaphosa said the growing debt distress among developing economies remained one of the most pressing challenges of the decade.
He said that the G20 had committed to extend support to low- and middle-income countries facing “debt vulnerabilities”.
“Together, we must create a virtuous cycle of reduced debt, higher public investment and more rapid and inclusive economic growth,” he said.
Climate finance was a central theme of the summit, with Ramaphosa warning that climate impacts “spare no country, but their toll is heaviest on those without the means to recover and rebuild”.
South Africa used its presidency to push for action on disaster preparedness, tabling the High-Level Voluntary Principles for Investing in Disaster Risk Reduction. Ramaphosa urged the global community to scale up support for post-disaster reconstruction, and to ensure vulnerable countries are not left behind as climate shocks intensify.
The president highlighted commitments to increase the “quality and quantity of climate finance” to developing economies, strengthen multilateral development banks, support transition platforms such as the Just Energy Transition Partnership, and unlock private-sector investment.
Energy security and affordability remained key outcomes of the summit. Ramaphosa said leaders had reaffirmed a commitment to energy security, affordability and universal access, while supporting developing economies in their transition to low carbon emissions.
He welcomed continued support for the G20 Critical Minerals Framework, calling it “a cooperative blueprint to ensure that critical mineral resources drive prosperity and sustainable development across the globe”.
The framework is expected to shape global investment in minerals essential for renewable energy technologies and the green economy.
South Africa’s presidency coincided with the end of the first 20-year cycle of G20 presidencies. Ramaphosa said the G20@20 Review, mandated at the 2024 Rio Summit and completed this year, had drawn on perspectives from member states and invited nations.
“It is our hope that recommendations of the Review will serve as a helpful guide for the G20 to ensure that it remains fit for purpose in an ever-changing world,” he said.
He said the adoption of the G20 South Africa Summit Leaders’ Declaration reflected consensus on the most urgent issues of global concern.
“The declaration is more than words – it is a commitment to concrete actions that will improve the lives of people in every part of the world,” he said.
He added that the agreement “demonstrates the value of the G20 as a forum that can facilitate joint action on issues of shared concern”.
He said that South Africa had placed the priorities of Africa and the Global South firmly at the heart of the G20 agenda, building on the developmental focus of Indonesia, India and Brazil.
Ramaphosa also used his closing remarks to call for peace amid escalating global conflicts.
“Recognising our interconnectedness as a global community of nations, we have called for an end to conflicts and wars around the globe and for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace,” he said.
He ended his address with an appeal for unity and shared responsibility.
“We have laid the foundation of solidarity; now we must build the walls of justice and the roof of prosperity,” Ramaphosa told delegates.
“Through partnerships across society, and by remembering our common humanity, we can create a more secure, a more just and a more prosperous world. Together, we can ensure that no one is left behind.”
INSIDE POLITICS