South Africa, hosting the G20 meeting, urged cooperative global leadership to tackle rising trade barriers, emphasized climate funding, and addressed high debt burdens. U.S. Treasury Secretary's absence highlighted challenges to unity.

G20 chair South Africa warned Thursday that abandoning the rules-based global order and declining cooperation could derail 2030 development goals to end hunger, eradicate extreme poverty and fight climate change.

The global economy has slowed and become less supportive of developing countries, leaving African nations increasingly reliant on international markets to fill the gap in their development financing needs.

This is not only a strategic investment — it is one that can boost growth, create business opportunities, and reduce pressure on public budgets in key member states,” said Klingbeil.

South Africa should join others at the G20 to support universal social protection systems, and not means-tested systems that base eligibility for support on income, ...

"The G20 was built around a presumption that all the world's major economies shared a common interest in a stable, relatively open global economy," said Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations. "But Trump doesn't really care about stability and wants a more closed global economy."

Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Narend Singh, has urgently called for global leaders to address climate action and provide the necessary support for mitigation and adaptation.

We are, of course, meeting at a moment of ongoing uncertainty in the global economy, while there are signs of resilience in some areas, various challenges do remain,'Pieterse said.