The SADC Executive Secretary, His Excellency Mr. Elias M. Magosi attended the First Foreign Ministers Meeting of South Africa’s G20 Presidency from 20-21st February 2025, in Johannesburg, South Africa, under the theme: “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability”. The meeting was officiated by H.E Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa.
South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency, taking over from Brazil, on 1st December 2024, and has prioritised some key issues during its G20 Presidency, including strengthening disaster resilience and response; ensuring debt sustainability for low-income countries; mobilizing finance for a just energy transition; and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth and development.
The meeting focused on discussing the current global geopolitical situation and its impact; reflecting on South Africa’s high-level deliverables during its G20 Presidency, and a review of the G20 at 20 years since its inception. Heads of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), including SADC, were accordingly invited to address these issues.
In his intervention, the SADC Executive Secretary, His Excellency Mr. Elias Magosi recognised the value to be derived from South Africa’s G20 Presidency and the G20, in promoting economic cooperation, sustainable development, and climate change mitigation.
Regarding the current geopolitical tensions and conflicts in the world, he underscored the need to strengthen multilateralism, as geopolitical tensions threaten the global peace and security, and regress economic development. He emphasised the need to recognise the right to life and to existence by the nations of the world. To make the world safe for everyone - reduce tensions – build rather than divide – and avoid fragmentation and polarisation.
The Executive Secretary further stated that dialogue should be the basis for inclusive resolution of conflict, using existing structures such as the United Nations, African Union, and Regional Economic Communities effectively, and that if considered inadequate they must be reinforced to be inclusive and effective. In this regard, he gave examples of SADC structures that have sustained the region to protect and preserve peace, in particular, the Organ on Peace and Security Cooperation, that addresses all peace and security challenges that the region faces, recognising dialogue as a most suited solution to conflict resolution, than military confrontation.
Reflecting on South Africa’s high-level deliverables during its G20 Presidency, the SADC Executive Secretary recognised that the identified four (4) priority areas under South Africa’s Presidency resonate well with the region’s priorities. To this end, he underscored the need for the SADC region to: deal with disasters continually and ensure effective response by the Member States and International Cooperating Partners; ensure that Member States are not crippled and deflated by the burden of a debilitating debt and unrelenting and uncompromising interest rates regime; mobilise resources for the just energy transition, including cleanly exploiting existing energy sources while focusing on expedited diversification of energy sources; and accelerate the mineral beneficiation value chain, which is one of the three regional priority value chains chosen by SADC Member States, to ensure value addition locally, while building and sustaining domestic jobs within the region.
The Executive Secretary also called for Inclusive transformation – the need for accelerated economic development for the developing world to minimise the world imbalances; the need to fast-track climate change mitigation for the SADC region, as the region is at the receiving end of the climate change impacts; and the need to accelerate smart infrastructure development, primarily for energy security and water security, as two critical enablers for the region to industrialise and build resilient economies.
He further stated that the G20 should focus efforts on equity and fairness for all countries –to ensure equitable financing mechanisms for all countries, to build and sustain economic development, pointing out that access to economic development financing should not disadvantage low income and developing countries, but that it should rather build them up and anchor them. He also called upon the G20 to also facilitate and enable expedited industrialisation by the developing world through the beneficiation of their natural resources.
SADC welcomes South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 and appreciates the participation of Regional Economic Communities at the First Foreign Ministers Meeting.
