Beyond Tokenism: How Nigeria can help shape bolder agenda for South Africa’s G20 presidency

The South African presidency of the G20 from this month until November 2025 offers a critical opportunity to move beyond symbolic African Union (AU) membership in the forum.

I propose in the analyses that follow steps for South Africa (SA), Nigeria and others to take on implementing reforms that will amplify Africa’s voice, strengthen intra-African coordination, and reposition the continent to influence global priorities more effectively.

This requires building up a strategic coalition of pivotal African states, using Africa’s unique leverage in transition minerals, energy, and demographic potential.

In a more economically competitive world, it is high time that Africa asserted its structural transformation goals to bolster the continent’s competitiveness through targeted partnership dialogues and robust actions.

Framing the challenge
Africa’s participation in the G20 is suboptimal, firmly locked into a cycle of exhortative moral appeals rather than deploying geopolitical leverage. At the heart of this issue lies tokenistic representation.

First, while the recent AU admission to the G20 is celebrated, it does not address the structural weakness of Africa’s representation, which is limited to South Africa as the sole state member. No other continent relies on a single state for its geopolitical voice.

Second, the fragmented coordination among African states presents a contrast to the EU’s bloc-based representation or the G7’s strategic alignment. Africa’s approach lacks coherence, reducing its ability to influence outcomes in a club dominated by great-power politics.

Third is misaligned priorities. SA’s agenda of “Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability” risks being overshadowed by the realpolitik priorities of other G20 members. The G20 has evolved into a geopolitical crisis manager rather than a mere development platform, as seen in its recent responses to the war in Ukraine and US-China tensions. Africa must adapt accordingly.

Going big
A bolder African agenda in the G20 will therefore be a boost to the continent. To pull off meaningful geo-political activism in the G20’s deliberations, Africa’s G20 engagement must normalise its position as a global player, not a perpetual underdog.

This requires first, expanding its African membership. We must renew determined advocacy on including additional African representation, especially Nigeria, to complement the AU and South Africa’s participation and better reflect Africa’s diversity and interests.

Second, we need to build a coalition billed as an African Strategic Clearinghouse – a forum for key states to coordinate G20 positions in advance. This will allow Africa to present unified, strategic demands rather than fragmented appeals.

Third, a more targeted instrumentalisation of Africa’s strategic assets to provide real leverage is an idea whose time has been long due. The continent must highlight its unique strengths to negotiate effectively with global powers:

On transition minerals and green energy, Africa must use its dominance in critical assets such as cobalt and lithium as a basis for a new global economic partnership. Africa can negotiate not just extraction rights but value chain participation, ensuring industrial growth on the continent.

Interlinking climate and relevant agendas
Climate action and demographic trends also present similar opportunities to innovate. Climate action must go beyond conventional finance, as will be fleshed out at a GGA-Nigeria climate finance expert roundtable that will chart a more innovative path forward for Nigeria on 16 December.

Leveraging Africa’s young workforce and renewable energy potential to secure investment in sustainable industries must move up the priority list.

We equally need a purposeful African push for climate justice principles that prioritise adaptation and equity in energy transitions. Properly positioning Africa as the laboratory for green innovation can help turn vulnerabilities into strengths.

Africa can also exercise progressive norm entrepreneurship, rewriting the rules around interlinked climate and minerals partnership.

Africa has an opportunity to lead on standard-setting in areas like Natural Resource Governance, with the development of frameworks such as the Africa Model Mining Law being crafted by myself and colleagues on the Technical Working Group of the AU.

We need to shift our resource partnerships from security-driven supply chains to equitable demand chains.

Finally, Africa’s agenda recalibration must move from merely receiving altruistic and perfunctory interventions to exercising real strategic leverage.

Africa’s agenda must focus less on solidarity rhetoric and more on transactional geopolitics. We must not shy away from frameworks that explicitly tie Africa’s resources and opportunities to global priorities.

Similarly, we also need strategic reciprocity from partners like the EU, China, and the US, ensuring that Africa’s interests and vital contributions to global supply chains are valued, not sidelined in multilateral negotiations.

Comparative insights and key opportunities
The EU maximises its influence by coordinating through shared institutions and speaking as a bloc in global forums. African states must develop similar mechanisms to avoid fragmented positions.

Similarly, the G7 and other smaller groups within the G20 often caucus to advance shared goals. Africa must cultivate alliances within the G20 to amplify its voice, aligning with emerging markets like India and Brazil where interests overlap.

This will help practically to advance opportunities for Africa around its strategic minerals and energy. We should develop with global partners a blueprint for mineral-led economic transformation and negotiate fairer partnerships for energy transition projects.

Other actions must involve climate and development innovations; advocating for a new financing architecture that integrates climate adaptation and development goals; prioritising Africa’s demographic dividend as an engine for global economic growth; and canvassing a swifter reform of international financial institutions to better address African debt crises and development challenges.

A call to action
South Africa’s presidency must transition Africa from a symbolic presence to a geopolitical actor in the G20. This requires:
1. Expanding Representation: Advocate for more African states in the G20 while strengthening AU coordination.

2. Strategic Prioritisation: Focus on Africa’s leverage points, such as resources, energy, and labour.

3. Institutional Leadership: Drive norm-setting in resource governance and global finance.
Conclusion

Is this South African G20 presidency prepared to normalise Africa’s role in the forum, or will it settle for symbolic representation? The stakes have never been higher.

In the end, only an effective framing of the opportunities that Africa presents while outlining actionable demands will help Africa move from symbolic representation to influence.

We have an unprecedented opportunity to normalise Africa’s presence in the G20. Though this requires moving towards a more assertive, forward-looking and strategic mode of engagement — anchored in Africa’s unique strengths and a cohesive vision.

Also needed are intra-African frameworks for geopolitical clearing, clarity of goals, a strategic solidarity mindset, and impactful demands on global interlocutors. Whilst the world flies, will Africa just keep walking?

*Dr Ola Bello is the Executive Director for Good Governance Africa (GGA). He has extensive experience in mining governance and economic transformation. He has been a member of the Technical Working Group for the implementation of the African Mining Vision since 2011.*

*The African Policy Circle (APC) roundtable that inspired this was supported by the German Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).*