African Union’s Membership in the G20: Is it Time for Africa?
As India holds the presidency of the G20 this year, it has pushed for multiple discussions on reformed multilateralism and seeks to amplify the voice of the Global South. This provides the AU with a window of opportunity for its integration into the G20
By Abhinav S
The inclusion of the African Union (AU) as a member of the G20 has been a subject of discussion and has received strong support from many G20 members. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently wrote to the G20 leaders, calling for the full and permanent membership of the AU in the global forum. The African Union (AU), formed in 2002, is a successor to the Organisation for African Unity (OAU), aiming for Africa’s growth and economic development to be driven by greater integration and collaboration among its member states. The AU has become an enormous economic bloc since the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was launched, which has merged Africa’s 54 economies into a unified market.
The G20, a summit of the world’s top economies, currently falls short of providing adequate representation from Africa, having only South Africa as its lone African member. The need for representation in the G20 is highlighted by Africa’s booming economy and population. The aggregate GDP of Africa exceeds that of India and accounts for $3.1 trillion; in other words, Africa would have been the fifth-largest economy in the world if it were a nation, and its share is projected to rise. In essence, the AU could serve as an intermediary for the other nations in Africa that do not have the same developmental difficulties as South Africa. The advancement of structural solutions that benefit both the continent and the G20, hinges on this membership.
Africa also has the potential to be a major actor in the worldwide effort to combat climate change because of its plentiful solar and wind resources. Despite low carbon emissions, Africa has the ability to transition to a clean energy economy owing to nations like South Africa and Morocco, which are pioneers in sustainable energy. Africa also inordinately possesses essential materials for sustainable energy technology, such as cobalt, manganese, and platinum. These factors make Africa a critical player in achieving the G20’s goals, and its omission seems quite hypocritical for the G20 as it claims to be “the premier forum for international economic cooperation”.
Although 13 members of the G20, including the European Union (EU), have expressed their support for the AU’s integration, the inclusion of any new member into the G20 poses quite a few challenges. The G20 lacks the eligibility criteria or due process for the integration of members as it has not taken on any new members since its inception in 1999, which would make this a historical one for the G20. Additionally, among those members who are resistant to the AU’s admission, they perceive that this would make the G20 much less effective as the act would open the floodgates for the G20’s expansion.
The AU presents itself with one major challenge: it is an intergovernmental organisation. If the AU is invited to join the G20, it would be a historical step for a global forum to accept an intergovernmental organisation. The AU has not acquired the abilities of a supranational organisation like the EU, which grants it some of the sovereign rights of its member states. The acquis communautaire, an aggregated body of laws and obligations that outlines the joint decision-making principle, comes under the capacity of a supranational organisation such as the EU. The AU failed to implement working procedures that permit or compel its members to publicly declare the viewpoints they reach a consensus on at summits. For instance, only a third of the members of the AU acknowledge Western Sahara as a state. The lack of this crucial ability to publicly declare a single viewpoint could prove detrimental to the AU’s meaningful participation.
In order to effectively participate in the G20, the AU must create policies that will empower its Commission to lead global projects, altering the political climate of the organisation and giving the Commission and its chief, greater autonomy. It is required to breach the consensus principle that forbids voting to establish majorities while taking minority viewpoints into account. A group of professionals under the direction of a sherpa would be required by the AU chairperson’s office to establish African perspectives on international economic and development challenges.
As India holds the presidency of the G20 this year, it has pushed for multiple discussions on reformed multilateralism and seeks to amplify the voice of the Global South. This provides the AU with a window of opportunity for its integration into the G20, as its admission would prove to be a prominent achievement by India during its presidency. Correspondingly, the next two presidencies of the G20 would be under Brazil and South Africa’s leadership, which would facilitate additional G20 initiatives aimed at middle-income nations and regions if the African Union (AU) entered the G20 during India’s presidency.
The author is a research intern at Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi
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