After India's invitation, African Union now a permanent G20 member

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the Head of the African Union to take his seat as a permanent member of the G20 as the first session of the Summit began in New Delhi on Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced the decision of the Group of Twenty or G20 to admit its 21st member – the African Union, a bloc which has 55 nations of the continent as its members.

Modi invited the president of Comoros, Azali Assoumani, who also holds the chair of the African Union now, to join the G20 leaders on the podium at the inaugural session of the 18th summit of the premier forum for international economic cooperation at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

“Honoured to welcome the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 Family. This will strengthen the G20 and also strengthen the voice of the Global South,” Modi posted on X.

The G20 was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98. It was an informal forum of finance Ministers and central bank governors of the most important industrialized and developing economies. The group was upgraded to the level of the Heads of States or Governments in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2007. It comprises 19 nations and the European Union.

The African Union is now the second group of nations among the G20 members after the EU.

Though the African Union has 55 members, six of them are currently ruled by military juntas and hence suspended from the bloc.

The G20 member nations hitherto accounted for 85 per cent of global GDP with a total population of 4.9 billion people. South Africa was the only member of the G20 from Africa.

The newest member, the African Union, which also includes South Africa, has a total population of about 1.4 billion with a combined GDP of $3 trillion.

“As a continent, we look forward to further advancing our aspirations on the global stage using the G20 platform,” Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is attending the G20 summit as a special invitee, said. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the head of the African Union Commission, also welcomed the inclusion of the bloc into the G20. “I welcome the African Union's entry into the G20 as (a) full member. This membership, for which we have long been advocating, will provide a propitious framework for amplifying advocacy in favour of the continent and its effective contribution to meeting global challenges,” he posted on X.

Ever since Modi took over the presidency of the G20 from Indonesian President Joko Widodo last year, India projected itself as the voice of the Global South in the organisation of the major world economies, highlighting the concerns of the developing economies. The prime minister had a few months back written to his counterparts within the bloc, suggesting that the African Union’s request for full membership of the G20 should be accepted at the summit in New Delhi itself.

India’s move to get the African Union a berth in the G20 during its presidency has come amid China’s bid to expand its influence in the continent.