AFP reported that on September 9, the African Union officially accepted the permanent membership of the G20 at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The organization with 55 African member countries now shares the same status as the European Union at the G20.
G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9
The G20 Summit kicked off in New Delhi on the morning of September 9 and is scheduled to last for two days. Before delivering his opening remarks, Prime Minister Modi welcomed the Chairperson of the African Union, currently President Azali Assoumani of Comoros, with a warm hug.
India has proposed permanent membership of the G20 to the African Union, Prime Minister Modi said, adding that all members have supported the proposal. "With the approval of all, I request the leadership of the African Union to take over as a permanent member of the G20," Modi said, banging the gavel in a ceremonial manner.
Mr. Assoumani then took a seat next to the world leaders at the invitation of the host country's Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
The expansion of the G20 is seen as a major diplomatic victory for Prime Minister Modi. "The world is facing a serious crisis of confidence. The war has deepened this loss of confidence. If we can defeat Covid-19, we can also defeat this collective crisis of confidence," Prime Minister Modi said.
The inclusion of the African Union in the G20 will give the continent a greater voice on the international stage. Previously, the only African country that was a member of the G20 was South Africa.
The G20 was formed after the 1999 Asian financial crisis to seek better international economic cooperation to deal with cross-border crises.
In the early years, only the economic and finance ministers met, but later, the leaders of all member states decided to meet once a year after the 2008 financial crisis.
However, this year's conference was absent from several prominent figures such as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Before the African Union joined, the G20 had 19 members and the European Union, representing about 85% of global GDP, more than 75% of global trade and about two-thirds of the world's population.
Key topics this year include calls for multilateral financial institutions to lend more money to developing countries, reform of international debt architecture, regulation of digital currencies and the impact of geopolitics on food and energy security.
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