The Second G20 Sherpa Meeting

Mapping The Way Forward in Driving Inclusive, Sustainable Solutions to Global Challenges

By Shumirai Chimombe

The G20 Finance Track is made up of seven technical groups and three task forces and focuses on economic and financial issues.

The Sherpa Track addresses broader, non-economic issues and coordinates the agenda for the G20 Summit agenda. It consists of 15 working groups:

• Agriculture

• Anti-corruption

• Culture

• Development

• Digital Economy

• Disaster Risk Reduction

• Education

• Employment

• Energy Transitions

• Environment & Climate Sustainability

• Health

• Research & Innovation

• Tourism

• Trade & Investment

• Women Empowerment

South Africa is well into the fourth month of its G20 presidency and the 15 working groups in the Sherpa Track have successfully held their first meetings. Most of these meetings were held virtually and some were held in person. All three of the task forces in the Finance Track have also held their first meetings.

This was according to DirectorGeneral of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and South Africa’s G20 Sherpa, Zane Dangor, in his opening remarks at the second G20 Sherpa meeting. The virtual meeting, hosted by DIRCO in Pretoria and chaired by Mr Dangor was held on 3 and 4 April with the theme Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability.

The first G20 Sherpa meeting under South Africa’s presidency took place in December 2024 in Johannesburg.The Sherpas are the personal representatives of the G20 leaders of each country. Their core responsibility is to oversee negotiations and coordinate most of the discussions during the year that will form part of the G20 Summit agenda in November. The working groups are made up of representatives from member countries’ Ministries.

Mr Dangor stated that South Africa is honored to assume the G20 presidency but also recognised that it is an enormous task.

“For us to achieve our goals under our presidency we rely on all G20 members.We also rely on guest countries and international organisations to support our work and to participate in the work of the G20 in all the working groups and the taskforces.”

Reflecting on the meetings that have been held so far, he said that they were well supported by all the members, and also by the international organisations and guests.

“We have received overwhelming support for our planned outcomes and also our agenda. We have also received concrete proposals and recommendations from all delegations which we appreciate, and have taken under consideration as we plan towards a very ambitious leaders’ declaration at the end of this year.”

Mr Dangor went on to say that at the foreign ministers meeting which was held in February, the ministers and their delegates expressed support for South Africa’s priorities. They supported the working methods which included the proposed method of managing the geopolitical issues.

“We are not going to stop the discussions but we just hope that the in-depth discussions on this and the resolutions of these will be dealt with by the G20 sherpas, the ministers of foreign affairs and, of course, the leaders. This will allow the working groups to focus on the technical issues that are incredibly important for our agenda.”

The ministers of finance and the central bank governors also held their first meeting in February which was also well supported. “In fact, we have to express our appreciation for the manner in which you’ve embraced the spirit of Ubuntu which is the spirit that underpins not just South Africa’s culture of inclusiveness but also is an Africa-wide culture. Ubuntu really underpins our commitment and solidarity in addressing our common challenges in achieving shared prosperity.”

He underscored the importance of multilateralism in achieving shared objectives and addressing the many pressing and ever-changing global challenges. “We believe that this is important and that the G20 must work with the UN and other multilateral institutions to mitigate these challenges and to find practical solutions for all of us.”

The objective of the Sherpa meeting was to take stock of what was discussed at the different meetings, and to identify issues that needed to be improved, and key issues that may need special attention. The agenda focused on assessing progress within nine working groups: development; anticorruption; culture; education; women’s empowerment; environment and climate sustainability; health; tourism; and disaster risk management.

“We look forward to the constructive engagements from all members of the G20, the invited guests also the international organisations, and we hope that as you listen to the reflections from the working group members and your own input you’ll be able to sharpen as the Sherpas what you believe we should be taking forward as a collective.”

Speaking to Channel Africa News, South Africa’s G20 Sous Sherpa, Ambassador Xolisa Mabhongo emphasised that the country remains committed to ensuring that African priorities are well represented on the global stage. “One of our priorities in our G20 presidency is the question of inclusive growth. How do we ensure that growth happens in all countries, but not growth for its own sake. It must be inclusive.”

He added that South Africa’s agenda with the G20 has priorities that are also for the African continent. Therefore they are integrated and are in perfect alignment. The next Sherpa meeting will be held in person from 26 to 28 June at the Sun City Resort in the Northwest province.

Calendar of events

• 2-4 April: 2nd Sherpa Meeting - virtual/DIRCO Conference Centre, Pretoria

• 3-4 April: 2nd Framework working group meeting - Cape Town

• 7-9 April: 2nd Digital Economy

• 9-12 April: 2nd Employment working group meeting - Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal

• 10-11 April: 2nd Task Force meeting: Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance and Innovation For Sustainable Development - Gqeberha, Eastern Cape

• 10-11 April: 3rd Finance and Central Bank Deputies meeting - KwaZulu-Natal

• 10-11 April: 2nd Disaster Risk Reduction working group meeting

• 12 April: 2nd Task Force meeting: Inclusive Economic Growth, Industrialisation, Employment and Reduced Inequality - East London, Eastern Cape

• 14-16 April: 2nd Development working group meeting

• 14-16 April: SAi20 Senior Officials meeting

• 23-24 April: 2nd Finance and Central Bank Ministerial meeting

• 23-24 April: 2nd Agriculture Working Group meeting

• 24-25 April: G20 Science Advisers

• 25 Apri: 2nd Task Force Meeting: Food Security

• 30 April - 2 May: 2nd Energy Transitions working group meeting

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Sources: G20 South Africa | South African Government News Agency | SABC News | Channel Africa News