South Africa's Kganyago asserts Africa's G20 agenda despite tariffs and Bessent absence
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent skipped the gathering in Durban, marking his second consecutive absence from G20 finance meetings and raising questions about its ability to tackle pressing global challenges.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has sought to leverage Africa's first G20 presidency to promote the African agenda, which also included topics such as the high cost of capital.
"The African issues have been elevated, all of us are talking about those," Kganyago told Reuters as discussions were ongoing between deputies and other officials, before the two-day meeting gets officially under way on Thursday.
Kganyago emphasized the push for a coordinated African payments system to facilitate trade across the continent, a move that could face scrutiny from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump has threatened tariffs on BRICS nations for promoting "anti-American" policies, including advocating for payments in local currencies instead of relying on the dollar system.
"As African central banks, we have decided that we are going to enable the movement of payments across borders," Kganyago said. "We are doing it not to bypass anybody, we are doing it because it will facilitate trade on our continent."
The G20, initially formed to address global economic crises, has evolved into a key platform for policy coordination. However, Trump's baseline 10% tariff on all U.S. imports, along with punitive rates targeting specific countries and products, has created significant policy uncertainty.
And while delegates said tariffs were the biggest theme affecting the global economy, Kganyago said G20 members would not develop a coordinated response to the threats.
He instead highlighted the importance of individual countries tailoring their strategies to suit their economies, like during the COVID pandemic.
Michael Kaplan, acting undersecretary for international affairs, will represent the department at the meeting.
(This story has been corrected to fix the day of the week to Wednesday, not Tuesday, in paragraph 1)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Heat health alerts extended into next week during fourth summer heatwave
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
FEMA abruptly disbands youth advisory council, but students say their climate advocacy won't stop
After a few frightening incidents seeing family and friends collapse in Phoenix 's grueling heat, Ashton Dolce, 17, began to wonder why his country's leaders were not doing more to keep people safe from climate change. 'I was just dumbfounded," Dolce said. He became active in his hometown, organizing rallies and petitions to raise awareness about extreme heat and calling for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make such conditions eligible for major disaster declarations. Just before his senior year of high school in 2024, Dolce got the chance to really make his concerns heard: He became one of 15 students across the United States selected to join the FEMA Youth Preparedness Council, a 13-year-old program for young people to learn about and become ambassadors for disaster preparedness. 'It was this really cool opportunity to get involved with FEMA and to actually have a specified seat at the table where we could develop resources by and for youth,' Dolce said. Then came signs of trouble. On Jan. 16, the young people were told by email that a culminating summit in the nation's capital this summer was canceled. By February, the students stopped hearing from their advisers. Meetings ceased. After months of silence, the students got an email Aug. 1 saying the program would be terminated early. 'We were putting so much time and effort into this space," he said, "and now it's fully gutted.' FEMA took action to ensure it was 'lean' In an email to students reviewed by The Associated Press, the agency said the move was intended "to ensure FEMA is a lean, deployable disaster force that is ready to support states as they take the lead in preparedness and disaster response.' The council's dissolution, though dwarfed in size by other cuts, reflects the fallout from the chaotic changes at the agency charged with managing the federal response to disasters. Since the start of Republican President Donald Trump 's second term, his administration has reduced FEMA staff by thousands, delayed crucial emergency trainings, discontinued certain survivor outreach efforts and canceled programs worth billions of dollars. Dolce said ignoring students undermines resilience, too. 'This field needs young people and we are pushing young people out,' he said. "The administration is basically just giving young people the middle finger on climate change.' Larger federal programs related to youth and climate are also in turmoil. In April, the administration slashed funding to AmeriCorps, the 30-year-old federal agency for volunteer service. As a result, 2,000 members of the National Civilian Community Corps, who commonly aid in disaster recovery, left their program early. FEMA did not respond to questions about why it shut down the youth council. In an email bulletin last week, the agency said it would not recruit 'until further notice.' The council was created for students in grades 8 to 11 to 'bring together young leaders who are interested in supporting disaster preparedness and making a difference in their communities,' according to FEMA's website. Disinvesting in youth training could undermine efforts to prepare and respond to more frequent and severe climate disasters, said Chris Reynolds, a retired lieutenant colonel and emergency preparedness liaison officer in the U.S. Air Force. 'It's a missed opportunity for the talent pipeline,' said Reynolds, now vice president and dean of academic outreach at American Public University System. 'I'm 45-plus years as an emergency manager in my field. Where's that next cadre going to come from?' Some speak of a trickle-down effect The administration's goal of diminishing the federal role in disaster response and putting more responsibility on states to handle disaster response and recovery could mean local communities need even more expertise in emergency management. 'You eliminate the participation of not just your next generation of emergency managers, but your next generation of community leaders, which I think is just a terrible mistake,' said Monica Sanders, professor in Georgetown University's Emergency and Disaster Management Program and its Law Center. Sanders said young people had as much knowledge to share with FEMA as the agency did with them. 'In a lot of cultures, young people do the preparedness work, the organizing of mutual aid, online campaigning, reuniting and finding people in ways that traditional emergency management just isn't able to do,' she said. 'For FEMA to lose access to that knowledge base is just really unfortunate.' Sughan Sriganesh, a rising high school senior from Syosset, New York, said he joined the council to further his work on resilience and climate literacy in schools. 'I thought it was a way that I could amplify the issues that I was passionate about," he said. Sriganesh said he got a lot out of the program while it lasted. He and Dolce were in the same small group working on a community project to disseminate preparedness resources to farmers. They created a pamphlet with information on what to do before and after a disaster. Even after FEMA staff stopped reaching out, Sriganesh and some of his peers kept meeting. They decided to finish the project and are seeking ways to distribute their pamphlet themselves. 'It's a testament to why we were chosen in the first place as youth preparedness members," Sriganesh said. "We were able to adapt and be resilient no matter what was going on.'
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
South Sudan says no talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza
NAIROBI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - South Sudan is not in talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, South Sudan's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Associated Press, citing six people with knowledge of the matter, reported that Israel was holding discussions with Juba to resettle Palestinians from Gaza in the East African nation. "These claims are baseless and do not reflect the official position or policy of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan," South Sudan's foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. Israel's military has pounded Gaza City in recent days prior to its planned takeover of the shattered enclave which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reiterated a view - also enthusiastically floated by U.S. President Donald Trump - that Palestinians should simply leave Gaza. Many world leaders are horrified at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another "Nakba" (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. In March, Somalia and its breakaway region of Somaliland also denied receiving any proposal from the United States or Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, with Mogadishu saying it categorically rejected any such move. South Sudan's Foreign Minister Monday Semaya Kumba visited Israel last month and met with Netanyahu, according to the foreign ministry in Juba. Last month South Sudan's government confirmed that eight migrants deported to the African nation by the Trump administration were currently in the care of the authorities in Juba after they lost a legal battle to halt their transfer. Since achieving independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has spent nearly half its life at war and is currently in the grip of a political crisis, after President Salva Kiir's government ordered the arrest of Vice President Riek Machar in March.
