South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to leave the country on Monday for Indonesia where he is due to attend the two-day G20 leaders’ summit kicking off on Tuesday in the resort city of Bali, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya has announced.
“The G20 leaders’ summit will discuss strategic issues and the role of the G20 as part of the solution to a wide range of global challenges including, among others, addressing food and energy insecurity, strengthening the global health architecture and advancing digital transformation,” Magwenya said in his brief to journalists.
According to the spokesperson, Ramaphosa would address sessions focusing on food and energy security as well as on health.
“In his input, Ramaphosa will call for substantial financial support for countries with developing economies that are most affected by food shortages and the effects of climate change,” Magwenya said.
He added: “In this regard, South Africa will support that addressing food insecurity challenges must be a top G20 priority.”
The official said South Africa’s strategic objectives at the G20 on energy would be to advance cooperation in terms of the G20 voluntary collaboration on energy access with a continuous focus on sub-Saharan Africa.
It would also seek to “ensure the discussion on clean energy takes into account all forms of clean energy such as clean coal technology and nuclear to ensure affordable, reliable and sustainable energy,” the official said.
“This is important in the context of the existing South Africa’s energy mix policy,” he added.
The country would also seek to “guard against onerous commitments placed on developing countries regarding the phasing out of fossil fuels, which may negatively affect the poor,” he said.
During the second working session that would focus on health, Ramaphosa would emphasise the urgent need to strengthen the global health architecture to respond quickly and effectively to the next pandemic, Magwenya said.
“The president will call for a permanent global co-ordination and governance mechanism that will enable collaboration, priority setting, pooling of resources, technology transfer, the research and development of medical countermeasures,” he said.
NM/jn/APA