CAPE TOWN, June 26 -- South Africa will take advantage of the upcoming G20 Summit in Japan to ensure support for the implementation of sustainable development goals in Africa and other developing countries, the presidency said on Wednesday.
This focus should include combating illicit financial flows which deprives Africa of resources that could otherwise be harnessed for development, presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko said before President Cyril Ramaphosa leaves for Osaka of Japan where the G20 Summit will take place on June 28-29.
This will be Ramaphosa's first international engagement since his inauguration in May 2019 and since the reconfiguration of the National Executive.
The summit will focus on eight key themes spanning global economy, trade and investment, innovation, environment and energy, employment, women's empowerment, development and health.
The themes of this year's summit reflect, to a large degree, South Africa's national priorities, as set out in Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address last week, Diko said.
South Africa will leverage the summit as a platform for securing financial and other support for infrastructure development, advancing the G20 Compact with Africa initiative and reinforcing the need for strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth at the national and global level, Diko said.
Diko said South Africa's participation in the summit arises from the country's international relations policy which is directed at creating a better South Africa and contributing to a better Africa and a better world.
Since 2010, South Africa has co-chaired the Development Working Group of the G20.
On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Ramaphosa will convene the standing trilateral meeting of African leaders in attendance to exchange views with Egypt as chair of the African Union (AU) and Senegal as president of the New Partnership for Africa's Development on African priorities for the summit, according to Diko.