Modi pushes for African Union to be admitted as permanent member of G20

An official says the move is aimed at enhancing Africa’s voice ‘on the international stage and in shaping the future of our shared world’

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is pushing for the African Union to be made a permanent member of the Group of 20 (G20) ahead of the summit in Delhi later this year, as the country moves to position itself as a leader of the developing world.

Mr Modi has reportedly written to all members of the G20, which consists of the world’s 19 biggest economies as well as the European Union, to give the 55-member African Union full and permanent membership.

An unnamed Indian official told Reuters news agency that the move is aimed at enhancing Africa’s voice “on the international stage and in shaping the future of our shared world”.

“This will be a right step towards a just, fair, more inclusive and representative global architecture and governance,” the source said.

“(The) prime minister is a strong believer in having a greater voice of the Global South countries on international platforms, particularly of African countries.”

The official said Mr Modi is focused on incorporating the priorities of the African countries into the G20’s agenda, according to Indian media reports.

India, which is the host of this year’s summit on 9-10 September, has been showing an increased interest in Africa in recent years with cooperation during the Covid-19 pandemic and a variety of development partnerships.

The country has also been striving to emerge as a voice for the developing world as it seeks to put the focus on tackling the economic fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, rather than taking issue with and alienating the Russian government as was the case with the G7 summit in Japan this year.

The G20 consists of 19 countries and the European Union, representing approximately 85 per cent of global GDP, over 75 per cent of global trade, and about two-thirds of the world’s population.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the 55 nations of the African Union have a combined annual GDP of about $2.99 trillion – that would place it above France ($2.92 trillion) and below the UK ($3.16 trillion) if it were a country. The EU has a GDP of $17.82 trillion.

India has invited three African countries to attend the G20 as part of its list of non-member “guest” nations – Egypt, Mauritius and Nigeria. Bangladesh, Singapore, Spain, the Netherlands, Oman and the UAE complete the list of guest attendees this year.

International organisations like the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and the IMF are also involved.

The Africa Union’s inclusion in the G20 would significantly boost the bloc’s global coverage by population, as it is home to 17 per cent of the world’s people.