By: Alice Aryeetey/Starrfm.com.gh
Chair of the Standard Bank Group and Co-Chair of B20 South Africa, Nonkululeko Nyembezi, has hailed the successful conclusion of the B20 Summit under South Africa’s G20 presidency, declaring it one of the most inclusive and practical business engagements in recent years.
Addressing delegates in Johannesburg, Nonkululeko Nyembezi highlighted that the G20 economies account for 80% of global GDP and 90% of world employment, underscoring the critical role of the private sector in turning resources, talent, and technology into sustainable economic output.
She says B20 South Africa has proudly fulfilled the three pledges made at the start of its leadership: continuity, inclusivity, and action-orientation. A landmark achievement, she mentioned, was reaching 50% gender balance across its leadership and task forces, which she believes is a demonstration of commitment to inclusive decision-making.
Continuity, she said, means they did not reinvent the wheel.
“You will see, for example, in our papers that we have tables that explicitly demonstrate the links between the proposals that we’ve put forward, both the CF recommendations and the previous KPIs that have been put before”, Nyembezi noted.
Policy recommendations presented at the summit include explicit tables linking new proposals to KPIs from previous B20 cycles, ensuring recommendations are implementable rather than theoretical.
A central theme was inclusive growth, with strong emphasis on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as one of the world’s boldest regional integration projects. Nyembezi positioned Africa as a leader in global cooperation initiatives and called for deeper integration of the continent into global value chains.
On energy and sustainability, the B20 advocated a principled and just transition, stressing the strategic importance of Africa’s critical minerals for global industrialization and innovation, and elevated disaster resilience and effective public-private-philanthropic partnerships as essential enablers of sustainable development.
As the B20 baton prepares to pass to another country, Nyembezi concluded on an optimistic note that through practical recommendations, genuine inclusivity, and unwavering focus on implementation, B20 South Africa has shown that global cooperation can deliver prosperity for all.
