Kganyago of South Africa defends Africa’s G20 agenda in spite of tariffs and the absence of Bessent

The governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Lesetja Kganyago, stated on Wednesday that G20 finance officials were still scheduled to tackle a “African agenda” that included cross-border payment systems and climate change, despite concerns that tariffs might mar the meeting.

Following his second consecutive absence from G20 finance meetings, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not attend the event in Durban, casting doubt on the group’s capacity to address urgent global issues.

Using Africa’s first G20 chair, President Cyril Ramaphosa has attempted to advance the continent’s agenda, which includes issues like the high cost of capital.

“The African issues have been elevated, all of us are talking about those,” Kganyago told Reuters during continuing deputies’ and other officials’ conversations prior to the two-day summit officially starting on Thursday.

Kganyago underlined the need for a unified African payments system to promote trade throughout the continent, a proposal that U.S. President Donald Trump may find objectionable.

For advancing “anti-American” policies, such as calling for local currency payments rather than using the dollar system, Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the BRICS countries.

“As African central banks, we have decided that we are going to enable the movement of payments across borders,” said Kganyago. “We are doing it not to bypass anybody, we are doing it because it will facilitate trade on our continent.”

The G20 has developed into a crucial forum for policy coordination, having been established initially to handle global economic crises. Trump has, however, significantly increased policy uncertainty with his base 10% tax on all U.S. imports and punitive rates that target certain nations and goods.

Delegates stated that tariffs were the main issue impacting the world economy, but Kganyago claimed that the G20 would not come up with a unified response to the threats.

Rather, he emphasized how crucial it is for each nation to modify its plans in accordance with its own economic situation, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The department will be represented at the meeting by acting undersecretary for international affairs Michael Kaplan.