B20 South Africa Sherpa update: Progress, dates and new partnerships
As the B20 South Africa journey progresses, B20 South Africa Sherpa Cas Coovadia has shared key updates on the efforts to shape actionable, inclusive and sustainable policy recommendations for the G20.
QUIZ | Test your B20 knowledge with this 2-minute survey – AND WIN R2 000!
Dear B20 South Africa friends and stakeholders,
As we move forward in our B20 South Africa journey, I am pleased to share key updates on our collective efforts to shape actionable, inclusive and sustainable policy recommendations for the G20.
All eight B20 Task Forces have now commenced their intensive collaboration, bringing together global expertise to develop concrete policy proposals ahead of our November summit.
Their work is critical to ensuring that business voices translate into meaningful, measurable outcomes, ones that balance economic growth with societal development and environmental resilience.
We are delighted to confirm that the B20 South Africa Summit will take place from 18-20 November 2025 in Johannesburg.
This will be a pivotal moment to convene our global community, share insights, and drive forward recommendations that reflect both African priorities and global imperatives.
I am pleased to welcome the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), MTN and Kwikot as new partners in our work to host Africa's first B20.
Their commitment reinforces the collaborative spirit of all our sponsors needed to address the complex challenges ahead.
As I have emphasised before, sustainable business is not just what we do, it is how we do it. Our values matter. The policy recommendations must be rooted in inclusion, resilience and long-term thinking. This means creating pathways for all regions, particularly those facing structural constraints, to fully participate in and benefit from global growth. Africa's role in this future is vital. A truly sustainable future must be shaped by the collective and grounded in shared prosperity.
• G20 Sherpa Meeting – June 2025
• Virtual Press Roundtables with Task Forces – June 2025
• Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) – June 2025
Africa's potential is undeniable, but potential alone is not enough.
Our goal is to shift the narrative from aspiration to measurable progress, progress that benefits people, economies and the planet.
The world does not just need Africa's potential, it needs Africa's leadership.
All of us in the B20 South African community look forward to your continued partnership as we build toward November.
Together, we can forge policies and ways of doing business that drive inclusive growth and prove that sustainability and shared prosperity go hand in hand, in a cooperating world.
Kind regards,
Cas
B20 South Africa Sherpa
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1
Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
15 minutes ago
- Daily Maverick
South Africa's honeybush sector must transform from its unjust past: what needs to change
The biodiversity economy is made up of businesses and economic activities that use living species and ecosystems to make profits without damaging the environment. But in South Africa, it is haunted by economic racism, with indigenous people still not in control of the biodiversity economy. A good example of what's going wrong with transformation initiatives is the story of honeybush tea. Biodiversity economy researcher Sthembile Ndwandwe of the University of Cape Town explains. Honeybush (Cyclopia spp.) is a plant indigenous to South Africa, with a long history of use as a herbal tea by local people in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces. It has traditionally been used for medicinal purposes. Efforts to develop the honeybush industry began in the 1900s. Honeybush is still a small and growing industry with little revenue and minimal profits to share with communities. But it is also deeply rooted in centuries of struggle for access to land and natural resources. What happened to honeybush during colonialism and apartheid? For centuries, during colonisation, slavery and apartheid in South Africa, control over commercialised plants and animals was handed to white-owned business. Black people were forced off their land by the colonial and apartheid governments. Land was broken up into individual title deeds and handed over to white settlers for commercial agriculture, or to the government for westernised conservation. The seizure of land for conservation, plantations and commercial agriculture led to the separation of wild plants like honeybush from those who traditionally used them. Honeybush became the property of landowners: the apartheid government, white-owned timber companies, and white commercial farmers. However, these unjust barriers did not prevent so-called Coloured (mixed-race) and Indigenous Khoi and San communities from continuing to harvest and trade small amounts of honeybush tea. How should transformation have happened? Apartheid ended in 1994. This coincided with efforts that began in the early 1990s by the Agricultural Research Council and the South African National Biodiversity Institute to 'rediscover' honeybush. Projects attached to formal honeybush value chains were opened to dispossessed communities who had produced the tea for centuries from wild plants. The post-apartheid South African government introduced policies to speed up the participation of Black and Indigenous people in the biodiversity economy. A strategy was published in 2015 and a further draft in 2024. These set out ways to include Black and Indigenous people in conservation and businesses involving wild plants (biotrade or bioprospecting) and game animals (the wildlife economy). For example, there were plans to commercialise 25 wild plants, create thousands of jobs, and involve communities in the search for new products (bioprospecting). The government came up with development plans to develop honeybush businesses, and allocate land and infrastructure to Black and Indigenous honeybush producers to participate. These plans were commendable but did not succeed in transforming the industry. What's gone wrong? The focus of transformation was on profit-generation and the number of jobs created. This removed the emphasis from quality jobs and dignity for those who remain racially excluded from enjoying nature. In some cases, transformation further excluded people. For example, permits have been used since the 1800s to exclude Black and Indigenous harvesters from freely accessing land and harvesting plants. After apartheid ended, the role of permit systems as tools for limiting Black and Indigenous people's movement and access to nature were not questioned. Instead, they became part of the formal honeybush trade. They continue to play a key role in managing access to wild plants. This formalisation has prevented Black and Indigenous harvesters from picking wild honeybush without a formal permit. It has left them dependent on applying through those who have power for permits, such as white landowners. This has reinforced and legitimised white supremacy over access to land and natural resources. Secondly, landowners gave permits to white harvest team leaders or supervisors of the workers doing the harvesting. This displaced Black and Indigenous leaders. Another problem is delayed negotiations around access and benefit sharing. This is meant to direct a share of the profits from biodiversity-based industries to local communities. The agreements are still being negotiated, usually by the government, representatives of the industry and traditional authorities. This excludes the communities who've been producing and fighting for honeybush access for centuries. Lastly, those with land and processing infrastructure retain power in the honeybush industry. Black and Indigenous people whose families farmed honeybush for generations remain at the margins. They often have to take up disempowered jobs as planters, harvesters (pickers), helpers in processing facilities, and retail packagers. The result is that Black and Indigenous people have limited control over the honeybush trade and are left in a subordinate position. Is this part of a bigger problem in the biodiversity economy? Landlessness is the bigger problem. The majority of people who've lived and worked for generations in honeybush growing regions and who were dispossessed of their land did not get it back after apartheid ended. Instead, less than 25% of South Africa's land has been redistributed to Black and Indigenous people. When generations of people work with nature, they need sovereignty over space and all the different plants in nature. Being confined to small plots of land means Black and Indigenous people cannot fully use and enjoy all the plants in a region. What should happen next? The government, industry representatives, communities involved with honeybush and the National Khoi and San Councils must transform the industry beyond just redistributing a small fee from commercial farmers and honeybsuh businesses. These are important next steps: Land should be expropriated and redistributed to those involved in the biodiversity economy who are currently landless. Honeybush is a small industry with little profit to share. Access and benefit sharing systems should be designed to show benefits to communities that are not about money alone – in the form of justice, conservation, and restitution. Permits must be replaced with systems that are accessible to the people who were previously forced off their land. To do this, my research recommends using the Black gaze: empathising with the dispossession of the original inhabitants of the land, and bearing witness to the domino effect that landlessness has had on Black families historically connected to honeybush. The absence of traditional knowledge holders in honeybush patent applications means that they're erased from written memory of honeybush intellectual advancements. The honeybush industry needs epistemic justice. This is where Indigenous knowledge is recognised as true and valid, and not only seen as useful if it advances 'science' or helps market products. This will require transformation of the whole honeybush industry, so that traditional knowledge holders are named and remunerated as equal knowers in innovation. Transforming South Africa's biodiversity economy requires a longer-term vision of changing the exclusionary practices, views and structures that are embedded in our environmental policies. DM
IOL News
24 minutes ago
- IOL News
Usave launches advanced loss prevention system to combat rising energy prices
The system, developed in conjunction with Azoteq, a home-grown South African technology firm, harnesses SmartSense™ technology to effectively monitor and manage power consumption within its stores. Image: Supplied. In a strategic move responding to escalating energy prices, Usave, the Shoprite Group's discount supermarket chain, rolled out an advanced loss prevention system. This technology not only aims to reduce operational costs but also assures the brand can continue providing low prices for its customers. The system, developed in conjunction with Azoteq, a home-grown South African technology firm, harnesses SmartSense™ technology to effectively monitor and manage power consumption within its stores. The group said that it is especially critical for Usave's rural and peri-urban stores, where electricity supply is often erratic and extended outages are a regular challenge. 'This pioneering work showcases how our real-time, proactive use of innovative, locally developed technology, combined with a strong focus on operational excellence and cost savings, helps us prevent unnecessary waste and reduce shrinkage-related costs - efficiencies that allow us to pass even more value and savings directly to our customers,' Dewaldo Diedericks, General Manager of Usave said. The system monitors temperatures in critical areas, like cold storage, freezer rooms and the salesfloor, and issues alerts when predetermined thresholds are surpassed, thereby preventing spoilage and optimising energy consumption of equipment in these areas. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The system, developed in conjunction with Azoteq, a home-grown South African technology firm, harnesses SmartSense™ technology to effectively monitor and manage power consumption within its stores. Image: Supplied. Data is delivered through a user-friendly dashboard that equips management with real-time insights to enhance decision-making, ensure improved food quality and prevent costly equipment failures. Generator runtime and fuel levels are also tracked, enabling the business to follow more efficient servicing and refueling schedules. "In this way Usave avoids unnecessary maintenance, further reduces costs and minimises the likelihood of unexpected outages in instances where a switchover to generator is necessitated. To generate additional savings, Usave supermarkets also regularly simulate power outages at supermarkets on time-of-use (ToU) tariff structures, switching over to battery during peak times when electricity is more costly, and charging the batteries during off-peak times," the company said. 'We have been able to respond and prevent freezer failures as they occur, achieving a 0% rate of stock loss across all stores where this system has been implemented to date. In addition, the seamless, automated transition from generator power to hybrid inverter and battery power during outages, has saved the business more than 80 000 hours' worth of costly services and fossil fuel consumption,' Diedericks added. Already running at 202 locations, Usave said it plans to equip all its stores with SmartSense technology, gradually replacing older uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems. As part of its sustainability efforts, the discount retailer is also gradually incorporating solar energy into its operational strategy at its already compatible hybrid system stores. BUSINESS REPORT Visit:
The South African
33 minutes ago
- The South African
Cabinet approves bill to limit employment of foreign nationals
The South African Cabinet has approved the tabling of a new bill in Parliament aimed at limiting the employment of foreign nationals, as part of broader efforts to address rising unemployment among citizens. According to Eyewitness News , Cabinet also approved the National Labour Migration Policy White Paper. The policy sets quotas on how many documented foreign nationals businesses can hire in sectors like agriculture, hospitality, tourism, and construction. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni announced the decisions during a briefing at Parliament on Thursday 29 May. She said the policy aims to balance employment across sectors and address public concerns about job opportunities. Ntshavheni said the migration policy works alongside other government measures. These include limiting business visas for foreign nationals in certain sectors and changing the National Small Enterprise Act. These changes aim to prevent foreign nationals from establishing small, medium and micro enterprises in some areas of the economy. Cabinet also approved the tabling of the Employment Services Amendment Bill. The bill aims to create a legal framework to regulate the employment of foreign nationals. The bill would give the employment minister the power to set quotas. It would also tighten controls on labour brokers to stop the exploitation of undocumented workers. In a further directive, Cabinet instructed the Minister of Employment and Labour to expedite consultations to define what constitutes scarce and critical skills in the country. This process will help build local skills and create more job opportunities for South Africans in key areas. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
