G20 to become G21 as world leaders agree to grant African Union Permanent Membership
The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi made the decision to give the African Union permanent membership to the G20. This will be a historic expansion of their economic bloc. Azali Assoumani is the current president of the African Union and also the current president of Comoros and he was the one that was invited by the Indian prime minister The decision to make the AU (African Union) part of the g20 will be a history-making as it would be the first expansion of the G20 since 1999. AU will receive the same status as the EU which would remove any form of discrimination between each other. This decision has been seen as a victory for the African continent because they have complained for a long time about how they are not represented by the EU. Some African countries such as South Africa said that this made them left out of global decisions that were made every month. The inclusion of the African Union means they can now have a say in most of these decisions.
Vincent Magwenya who is a spokesperson for South Africa said “It was never sustainable to exclude over 1.4 billion people from global decisions”. Africa joining the G20 will mean the name will have to change hence why the name “G21” was being talked about but nothing has been confirmed yet. An advantage of Africa joining is that it will strengthen the Global voice and there will be conflict as everyone can agree on a decision that they want to make. The inclusion of Africa could also possibly have opportunities for collaboration between the continents as everyone can now share ideas and can also open up investment opportunities in Africa.
Overall, this is a huge step forward for Africa and also for G20 as now it ensures that decisions are made between everybody and there is no confusion. This does spread equality amongst all continents. Nigeria and Kenya have also been backed by this and now we believe more countries in the African continent are going to join. This benefits G20 as it is giving them more of a global push and can now tackle global challenges effectively.
Citation- https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/india-g20-africa-union-membership-g21-b2408367.html