On 19 November, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva officially closed the G20 summit by handing over the presidency to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. For the Brazilian president, this was not just a simple handover of the presidency, but a concrete expression of the historical, economic, social and cultural ties that unite Latin America and Africa’. However, South Africa is due to officially take over the reins of the G20 on 1 December 2024.
On 19 November 2024, the torch of the G20 presidency was officially passed to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. As the South African president accepted this responsibility by acclamation from all the G20 member countries, he stressed the importance of showing the world what is important for the African continent. During his term at the head of this organization, he promised to fight against inequalities, improve infrastructures and reform global institutions.
The focus on climate change was also central to the priorities of the outgoing G20 presidency, so we thank Brazil. Above all, this G20 summit was a great success and laid a solid foundation for South Africa. We can now focus on the next G20 summit in Johannesburg.
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa
.In symbolically handing over the gavel of the presidency to his South African counterpart, Lula da Silva, President of Brazil and former President of the G20, underlined the historic importance of this handover, pointing out to South Africa its responsibility. For the Brazilian President, it is the ‘concrete expression of the historical, economic, social and cultural ties that unite Latin America and Africa.
President Lula has enabled Brazil to achieve a great deal in terms of the objectives that needed to be reached, particularly those concerning the reform of global institutions while the agreements are evolving, but also at the level of financial institutions, because his priorities were the issues of poverty and famine and how to work better to eliminate poverty and famine.
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa
South Africa also intends to tackle major issues such as climate change, food security and energy, which affect developing countries the most. The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Spain, South Africa, the United Kingdom and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union.