Another Opportunity

News that the Africa Union (AU) has been admitted into one of the world’s principal economic institutions the “G20” has been greeted with a lot of enthusiasm. After over seven years of negotiations, the AU has now joined South Africa to pilot the economic activities of the continent on a larger scale. Coming on the heels of the August BRICS Summit in South Africa that saw the admission of six new members, one is tempted to say that the race for the consolidation of economic blocs has taken a different twist. For an entire organization comprising 55 countries to be admitted into an institution with individual member countries, is an exceptional privilege and an enormous diplomatic victory. 
African countries have long pushed for significant roles in the global bodies, including the United Nations Security Council. While these institutions are gradually being modified to meet the reforms as demanded by the growing populations, the admission of AU into G20 in New Delhi on September 9, 2023 as a permanent member comes with a lot of fallouts for the continent. AU presence as permanent member of the G20 institution would help Africa better push reforms in the global financing system which forces African countries to borrow and pay more than others, thus deepening their debt. With full G20 membership, the AU, home to the world's largest free trade area, is also enormously rich in resources that would attract more and more investors and also accelerate the transfer of technology which Africa i...