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Following the G20 meeting in the US on August 31 and September 1, the writer argues that soaring US debt, AI investment and economic nationalism are deepening global imbalances, while Africa and the wider Global South confront exclusion, inflation and stalled reform.
By ASHRAF PATEL
Foreign ministers of G20 nations met in Asheville, North Carolina, under the stewardship of United States (US) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, joined largely by private-sector representatives to discuss how G20 countries can promote private sector-led growth and innovation, AI and financial innovation.
In his introduction, Bessent explained the significance of Asheville hosting the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting; it was the area that suffered some of the greatest damage as Hurricane Helene swept through North Carolina in September 2024.
Ironically, in the week of the devastating Nepal flood disaster that left thousands dead and missing, neither the floods nor climate change nor climate finance was mentioned in the communique issued at the end of the G20 meeting. In a world of ever more wars, invasions and US violations of international law, not one sentence alluded to these, underscoring the power dynamics in the world today.
This was further underscored, according to Nick Beams of World Socialist Web Site, by the US administration issuing “a list of journalists from a range of news organisations who would not be given credentials. The most prominent of those blackballed was Alan Rappeport from The New York Times, who has covered multiple G20 meetings since 2017. No reason was given for his banning and others. Having established that the meeting was to be a US-dominated affair, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent then laid out his agenda. There was no talk of international co-operation; it was very much America first.”
A cursory reading of the United States G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors communique reveals a series of half-truths, inconvenience and an agenda designed mainly for the US. More concerning is the marginalisation and erasure of the Global South agenda.
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To start off with, South Africa is excluded from G20 meetings in 2026, which also means that our progressive development agenda is erased. Important G20 legacy initiatives – the International Panel on Inequality (IPI) led by Professor Joseph Stiglitz, as well as the Manuel Finance panel tasked with assessing debt, cost of capital and key International Financial Institution (IFI) reforms – were not even acknowledged.
Ironically, the meeting took place during the week that the US national debt topped $40 trillion. This means that every US household (except the top 1%) is $300 000 in debt. Militarism, deregulation and new tax breaks for multinationals are deepening the social crisis and inequality within the US. In an interconnected world, the US national debt crisis is socialised and dumped onto the world. It’s no surprise that the Trump administration’s core interest in the G20 is mainly the finance and AI track.
AI-fuelled investments push up the cost of capital
With AI investment scaling to new heights and entering a bubble phase, BBC economic editor Faisal Islam unpacks the situation:
“If you’ve watched the markets, you’ll know yields on government bonds have risen alarmingly quickly. US borrowing costs spiked on Tuesday (September 1) – a pattern matched globally, including in the UK where they hit 28-year highs. It means governments must pay more for the money they borrow to cover spending. There is never a single cause of such big market moves. Certainly, with US inflation stubbornly high, investors are demanding higher yields. But one key reason the US government is finding it harder to sell its bonds is that many huge corporations – think Amazon, Alphabet, Oracle – have been issuing bonds to build AI infrastructure. Those alternatives, it seems, are pulling buyers away from government bonds. Data centre construction is taking investment that would normally help fund government.” (Faisal Islam, BBC, September 2026)
Another point in the communique boldly promoted the need for “financial literacy for citizens” but the cynicism was on full display – it is actually the US administration and Treasury that need financial literacy in the context of the country’s $40 trillion national debt.
Critical mineral extraction and trade wars
This year’s G20 comes amid a global recession with massive energy and food inflation due to US attacks in the Middle East and shipping-lane choke points, with the Global South and Africa facing a dire cost-of-living crisis. Furthermore, critical mineral extraction is tied to unfair Free Trade Agreement (FTA) deals in Zambia and Kenya – all signs of the “new AGOA normal” – one where there is unbridled access to Africa’s critical minerals and data.
Multipolarity and de-dollarisation deepen in the Global South
Regardless of the deepening contradictions and US economic nationalism and militarism, Global South agency and multilateralism are deepening across multiple domains. Ironically, Trump’s wars and disruptions are pushing its own Global South allies into deeper economic integration within BRICS as the bloc rapidly deepens trade in local currencies, and alignment on de-dollarisation gains momentum.
The BRICS 2026 Summit in India this month is discussing linking their domestic fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the discussions were still at an early stage, but that several options were being considered to make cross-border payments faster and cheaper. India had already pushed for CBDC links to be placed on the BRICS agenda earlier in the year.
In a world of polycrisis, development and governance co-operation is vital. The important work of the UN Conference of the Parties (COP), UN Women, International Labour Organisation, UNESCO and other domains, such as AI governance, will continue to deepen as Global South and middle powers find common ground in implementing the UN Pact of the Future.
In this context, South Africa’s G20 exclusion in 2026 is, in a way, a blessing; it is an opportunity to reach out to the Global South and G77. Here, South Africa and progressive states such as Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia and other middle powers should focus diplomatic and economic outreach to the masses of the Global South who suffer in an era of energy and food inflation and need urgent World Trade Organisation reforms. Agriculture and climate finance reform under the UN Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and UN COP31 agenda are more urgent than ever.
When the US sub-prime mortgage crisis spread in 2009, it ushered in the worst financial crisis. In its wake, the G7 incorporated core Global South nations to save global capitalism, cementing the G20. Today, the Northern-led G20 is unable to find “common ground” and the narrow nationalistic-nativistic militarism of the US and others dominates its agenda, with Africa hardly mentioned at all.
As the UN General Assembly convenes this month, member states need to submit progress reports on the Pact of the Future, which was signed in 2024, a signature outcome of Secretary-General Antonio Gueterez’s tenure.
As the global polycrisis and social, environmental and economic crises deepen, the futures of South Africa and Africa need to be firmly anchored in sovereignty, solidarity and a sustainable development agenda for – and with – the Global South.
Ashraf Patel is a senior research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD) in South Africa, specialising in global governance, multilateralism, the political economy of the Global South, developmental justice and international relations.
