African Union G20 Membership: Opportunities and Challenges

The Group of Twenty (G20) is a global platform for the world's largest economies to discuss and coordinate global economic and financial policies. The African Union (AU) offers the continent a legal and institutional framework to combat post-cold War global challenges. (Magliveras and Naldi, 2002) The G20 offers a platform for timely global agenda building and high-level decision-making with regards to the complexity of world challenges and the huge number of state and non-states actors (Slaughter, 2013). AU membership in the G20 presents opportunities and challenges.

Opportunities

African Agency

Historically, Africa has been marginalised on the international stage. However, in recent years, Africa has assumed a more prominent role in high-level international affairs. Lala (2019) confirms that Africa has agency, and its importance is progressively growing at the national and international levels. The G20 membership offers Africa a much-needed platform for active participation in shaping global economic policies.

Subsequently, the G20 would also offer Africa an opportunity to share its unique experiences and perspectives to global economic conversations by voicing their concerns, advocating for their interests, and contributing to decision-making processes. Brown (2012) argues that Africa's position in global politics should depict Africa as an actor rather than just acted upon, a historical agent rather than a recipient of history.

African agency is multi-actor and multifaceted in nature. Chipaike (2018) adds that African agency should be viewed as originating from the African people and independent civil society movements rather than solely being exercised by governmental leaders.

International Economic Cooperation

Membership in the G20 would facilitate increased economic cooperation between African countries and other major and emerging economies in the G20. Africa's development scorecard is low, and inclusion in the G20 would allow African countries to advocate for policies and initiatives addressing the continent's development gap. African nations would leverage collective efforts to address development challenges.

The membership would facilitate discussions and actions on critical issues, foreign direct investment, and fostering partnerships in infrastructure development, trade, and technology transfer. Despite challenges like bad governance, corruption, and low human capital development, encouraging investment in Africa is essential for economic growth and poverty reduction.

The prospects for successful cooperation are promising due to emerging investment opportunities and declining investment risk. (Anyanwu, 2006) It could also foster regional integration with Africa and promote intra-African trade and investment (ibid). Across Africa there is evidence of a renewed interest in undertaking regionally-based projects and joint exploitation of resources. To harness this momentum, African countries are responsible for fighting corruption and strengthening investments in human capital. (Anyanwu, 2006)

Global Interlinkages

The G20 addresses many global challenges beyond economic issues, including climate change, health crises, and sustainable development. AU membership would enable African countries to engage more effectively in these discussions and collaborate with other nations to find common solutions. A close examination of Africa's place in current geopolitical and economic affairs suggests that the AU can only impact world governance if it is united, takes global stances, and gets the backing of more significant international players. (Welz, 2013)

AU and G20 partnership would bring expertise, resources, and knowledge that can contribute to Africa's development agenda (Agenda 2063). The continent is shifting from being a perpetual "policy-taker" to becoming a policymaker and is no longer overly dependent but self-sufficient (Shaw, 2016). There is evidence of an emerging African agency in multilateral forums. Lala (2019) notes that Africa is shaping global frameworks and norms regarding peace, security, and climate change.

Challenges

Representation and Unity

The AU comprises 55 member states with diverse economic, political, and social contexts. Mei (2009) argues that Africa is not yet a united continent. Pan-Africanism has not produced any meaningful institutional forms of integration. This being the case, achieving unity and a common position among AU members on various G20 issues may prove challenging.

Modern African regionalism is a tactic for achieving continental unity, collective autonomy, economic transformation, and creating a strategy for tackling Africa's developmental issues (Mei, 2020). This calls for coordinating positions and ensuring effective representation of all African countries through extensive diplomatic efforts and balancing national interests with the AU's collective interest.

The big question is whether or not Africa's new multilateralism is transformational in addressing the underlying social and developmental issues in the continent or whether it continues to be disconnected from its continental base. Mei (2009) argues that the continent must establish a shared perspective on the outside world (G20). The AU must be strengthened in its international engagement capacity.

African Developmental States’ Priorities

Africa faces unique development challenges like poverty, infrastructure deficits, and social inequalities. Integrating African development priorities into the broader G20 agenda might be challenging, as the focus tends to be more oriented towards emerging economies. Gebrewold (2010) claims that applying "African solutions for African problems" establishes a more peaceful and prosperous Africa.

Africa is at a crossroads in its quest to overcome the formidable obstacles standing in the way of advancing its fundamental goals of fostering economic integration and sustainable development (Nwebo, 2018). It’s of importance to ensure that the G20's discussions and policies align with Africa's specific needs and aspirations (Agenda 2063).

Africa's Place in Global Governance

An imbalance in global governance within the G20 poses a challenge for AU membership. It can lead to the marginalisation of African voices, limited influence on global economy, and difficulties in addressing African development needs. African governments should craft policies to promote African agency.

An overreliance on the international community and the limited capacities of African states bring into question the efficiency of global governance in tackling African concerns. African countries need to re-establish the foundation for its integration into a globalising world. A reformed G20 can fulfil the coordinating role of re-globalisation demands. (Bishop, 2020)

Addressing these challenges is crucial to ensuring that AU membership in the G20 is meaningful, inclusive, and contributes to the development and wellbeing of African countries. African agency cannot be ignored in changing these relationships into "win-win" partnerships (Cheru, 2016).

Conclusion

AU membership in the G20 presents opportunities for African countries to exert influence, promote economic cooperation, and collaborate on global challenges. It has the potential to foster inclusive global governance and address Africa's unique development needs. However, challenges related to representation, unity, and alignment with development priorities must be addressed to ensure that AU membership translates into meaningful outcomes for the continent. With strategic engagement, African countries can leverage their G20 membership to drive inclusive and sustainable development, economic growth, and improved well-being for their citizens.

REFRENCES

Welz, M. (2013). The African Union Beyond Africa: Explaining the Limited Impact of Africa’s Continental Organization on Global Governance. Global Governance, 19, 425-441.
Brown, W. (2012). A Question of Agency: Africa in international politics. Third World Quarterly, 33, 1889 – 1908
Lala, F. (2020). Africa in the Changing Global Order: Does African Agency Matter in Global Politics? The changing global order: Challenges and prospects, 127-143.
Chipaike, R., & Knowledge, M. H. (2018). The question of African agency in international relations. Cogent Social Sciences, 4(1), 1487257.
Shaw, T. M. (2016). African agency post-2015: The roles of regional powers and developmental states in regional integration. In Region-Building in Africa: Political and Economic Challenges (pp. 109-126). New York: Palgrave Macmillan US.
Bishop, M., & Payne, A. (2020). Steering towards re-globalization: can a reformed G20 rise to the occasion? Globalizations, 18, 120 - 140.
Magliveras, K., & Naldi, G. (2002). The African Union—A New Dawn for Africa International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 51, 415 - 425.
Cheru, F. (2016). Emerging Southern powers and new forms of South–South cooperation: Ethiopia’s strategic engagement with China and India. Third World Quarterly, 37, 592 - 610.
Gebrewold, B. (2010). The Cynicism of “African Solutions for African Problems”. African Security, 3, 103 - 80.
Slaughter, S. (2013). Debating the International Legitimacy of the G20: Global Policymaking and Contemporary International Society. Global Policy, 4, 43-52.
Anyanwu, J. (2006). Promoting of Investment in Africa. African Development Review, 18, 42-71.
van der Mei, A. P. (2009). The Ordeal of African Unity-Past, Present and Future of the African Union. Maastricht Faculty of Law Working Paper, (5).
Nwebo, O. (2018). The African Union Agenda 2063 and the Imperative of Democratic Governance. Law and Development Review, 11, 259 - 276.
(The paper is the author’s individual scholastic articulation. The author certifies that the article/paper is original in content, unpublished and it has not been submitted for publication/web upload elsewhere, and that the facts and figures quoted are duly referenced, as needed, and are believed to be correct). (The paper does not necessarily represent the organisational stance... More >>