G20 Sherpa Meeting in South Africa highlights importance of global cooperation

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola, opened the third G20 Sherpa Meeting in Sun City by highlighting the country’s vast mineral wealth and its crucial role in the global energy and technology sectors.

“Beneath this soil lies the world’s platinum, gold, uranium, the copper for wires, the vanadium for batteries, the fluorspar for medical tech. These are not just rocks; they are the DNA of electric vehicles, renewable grids, and life-saving isotopes. They are at the heart of global commerce,” Lamola said.

He called on the forum to use the G20 platform to promote sustainable development and shared prosperity, emphasising South Africa’s commitment as the current G20 president.

The meeting has brought together representatives from member states, invited countries, and international organisations to discuss progress across various G20 priority areas and global economic challenges.

Russia’s G20 Sherpa, Svetlana Lukash, echoed the need for solidarity, highlighting the critical importance of multilateralism in addressing global challenges, as reported by The Diplomatic Society.

She praised South Africa’s leadership in using its presidency to amplify the voices of Africa and the Global South, describing it as a turning point in G20 history.

“I think just having the presidency in Africa for the first time and putting the interests of Africa and of the Global South on the top of the G20 agenda already gives the strongest signal to the world community that the time has changed,” she noted.

In her remarks, Lukash stressed that Russia’s priorities for the G20 align closely with South Africa’s, including promoting inclusive global growth, creating jobs, advancing artificial intelligence governance, and ensuring fair value for critical minerals.

Among the participants, a delegation from the UAE, led by Mahash Saeed Al Hameli, UAE Ambassador to South Africa and the UAE's Sous Sherpa, highlighted the country’s active involvement in G20 working groups addressing key issues such as culture, education, development, women’s empowerment, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, employment, disaster risk reduction, climate, and environmental sustainability. This is reported by the Emirates News Agency (WAM), a partner of TV BRICS.

The UAE reaffirmed its strong support for South Africa’s presidency agenda and its commitment to multilateral cooperation within the G20 framework.

South Africa has invited the UAE to participate as a guest country in the 2025 G20 process and summit, marking the UAE’s sixth overall involvement and fourth consecutive invitation, following participation in previous summits hosted by Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and France.