G20 Leaders Admit African Union as Permanent Member

Facts

• On Saturday, Indian Prime Minister and the host of the 18th G20 summit in New Delhi, Narendra Modi, announced that the African Union would join the alliance of the world's top economies.¹
• The 55-member African Union becomes the second regional bloc after the European Union to become a permanent member, potentially turning the G20 into the G21.²
• The African Union, which has 60% of the world's renewable energy assets, is expected to push for reforms to a global financial system that it deems unfavorable to Africa's resource-rich countries.³
• Meanwhile, G20's expansion is expected to aid India's pitch to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with Africa's support.⁴
• The development comes as several countries, including Russia, China, Spain, and Mexico, skipped the summit.¹
• Established in 1999, the G20 accounts for about two-thirds of the world's population, 85% of global GDP, and 75% of global trade.⁵

Sources: ¹Euronews, ²CNN, ³ABC News, ⁴The Indian Express and ⁵NDTV.com.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Mint. India's push to include the African Union in the G20 is in sharp contrast to China's debt diplomacy, which suggests the expansion will likely expose the existing rifts about the bloc's goals and purposes among the G20 countries.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by News18. This is a historic day, not only for the G20 but for the entire global South, as it proves that the world's most powerful countries can bridge existing political and economic differences to create a more equitable, fair, and inclusive international order.