Русский
The Director of the Department of Economic Cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Dmitry Birichevskiy, has been speaking at the Valdai Club’s 3rd Russia-Africa conference and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). South Africa is in a somewhat unique position as it has just taken over the Presidency of the G20, and from January 1 next year will assume the Chairmanship of the BRICS group.
The G20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and the African Union. Guest invitees include, among others, the United Nations, the World Bank and ASEAN.
The BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as full members with Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam as partners.
Birichevskiy had this to say about South Africa’s potential in chairing both groups simultaneously:
“South Africa’s Presidency in the G20 is of great importance for numerous reasons. It is the first time that an African country has assumed leadership of this key international economic forum. And this is exactly one of the manifestations of the emergence of a new world order.
In 2025 the G20 rounds off its first full cycle of presidencies, which offers a good opportunity to review our past efforts and discuss the goals ahead.
On top of that, several anniversary dates create an exceptional historical context for the G20 this year. Namely the 80th anniversary of our Victory in the World War II and the founding of the United Nations; as well as the 65th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on Decolonization.
South Africa is steadily setting the tone for G20 endeavours with a focus on urgent issues of economic growth, food security, artificial intelligence, debt burden, and critical minerals. We support Pretoria’s priorities and strive to contribute to tangible practical results.
On July 24-25, the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting convened in Mpumalanga Province, opening a number of high-level G20 events this year. It provided for successful adoption of documents on sensitive matters for Africa, such as illicit financial flows and social protection. Now we embark on the final stretch towards the November G20 Summit.
Against the backdrop of rising geo-economic fragmentation, the G20’s activities attract increasing attention. The Forum adopted its present form in 2008 – at a challenging time for the world economy – and since then proved itself an effective “crisis manager” on numerous occasions. The G20 has remained resilient and efficient even during the peak of Western anti-Russian attitudes in 2022-2023. Today it continues to develop very much-needed consensus solutions on pressing economic and global issues.
The successive chairmanships of BRICS countries in 2022-2025 made a significant input to the productive work of the G20. Thanks to the well-balanced and independent stance of recent Chairs (Indonesia, India, Brazil and now South Africa), we could advance a unifying agenda at the Forum and transform it into a major channel to enable equitable communication among the largest economies.
The cycle of the BRICS leaderships in the G20 coincided with the steady strengthening of its positions in economic affairs. Today, the BRICS and G7’s shares in the global GDP are measured as 40% and 29% respectively.
The mounting influence of BRICS asserts it as a centre for growth, innovation and one of the main pillars of a new and more just world order. Its principles of consensus, equality, mutual consideration of each other’s interests resonate with a growing number of countries in the Global South, which enhances the role of BRICS as a “spokesperson” for the World Majority.
In the G20, increasing weight and consolidation of a new power base has enabled it to rectify a long-standing pro-Western bias, and to focus discussions on the needs of developing nations. Finally, what we have at the top of our agenda is the long overdue issues of how to make economic governance more democratic and eliminate the digital and technological divides between the Global North and South. Such problems as illegitimate sanctions and other methods of unfair competition alongside the failure of developed countries to deliver on their ODA commitments were accorded the attention they rightly deserved.
The South African Presidency has placed a G20 emphasis on the African agenda – a step that we fully support. Amidst alarming developments in the global economy, the situation in many African countries looks particularly precarious. They routinely have to deal with the aftermath of colonialism, thriving neocolonial practices, and inequitable division of labor. Their opportunity of development and industrialization are hindered by proliferating protectionist barriers, high borrowing costs, and the draining of resources.
Together with like-minded partners, we take efforts to consolidate the achievements of the BRICS presidencies in the G20 and give a strong political impetus to overcoming the challenges faced by developing countries, especially in Africa. We suggest our colleagues consider providing a “permanent seat” for BRICS in the G20.
Africa will only benefit from boosting cooperation with BRICS as a conduit for the priorities of the Global South, including at major multilateral fora such as G20. BRICS membership now comprises South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia, who seek to promote both national objectives and pan-African agenda. Since 2025, Nigeria and Uganda have joined in as partner states. In addition, the further enlargement of the New Development Bank through African shareholders seems promising. (Algeria, Bangladesh, and Colombia are all NBD members without being members of BRICS: Ed)
The status of BRICS as a leading international format was vividly stressed at the Summits in Kazan in 2024 and in Rio de Janeiro this year. The key results of Russian and recent Brazilian chairmanships keep evolving. That includes initiatives for interbank cooperation and elaboration of independent settlement and insurance instruments. Also, broad support was given to our proposals on the new mechanisms of exchange trading, strengthening the resilience of supply chains and resistance to protectionism.
The BRICS member states remain committed to building a more just, resilient, polycentric world order and putting an end to the Western dominance in the Bretton Woods institutions. We will continue to advance this common ground within the G20.
Russia is a responsible contributor to the development agenda, both bilaterally and at international venues. Our focus is on maximizing the potential of Russian-African partnership. Every year the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) serves as an acclaimed platform for promoting Africa’s interests.
We look forward to further fruitful cooperation and offer our African friends effective tools to enhance their economic sovereignty. In current difficult geopolitical situation sovereignty is the key to the true economic and political independence.”
Analysis
The BRICS group now contains six G20 members, while a considerable number of ‘global majority’ nations, who continue to trade and invest with Russia are also within the G20 group. As Birichevskiy points out, a geopolitical shift is occurring that acknowledges the rise of the global south over the western powers, with the BRICS now far ahead of the G7 in terms of GDP clout. It appears that Russia has now discounted the G7 as a legitimate group of interest as a result of this, combined with its unfriendly, pro-Western nature – other members include Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States – and is concentrating its efforts on the G20 and BRICS instead.
Underlying these trends, but not mentioned by Birichevskiy, is the growing desire for reform at the United Nations, which remains dominated by western influence, although continues to be recognised by countries such as Russia and China as remaining a viable platform in terms of global and multilateral institutional directives. Both continue, with other members of the global south, to push for reform, including the introduction of the African Union, Brazil and India as new members of the permanent security council – currently made up of just China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and again giving it an over-arching western bias.
South Africa’s Chairmanship of both the G20 and BRICS comes at an interesting time.
Further Reading
Lavrov To Head Russian G20 Delegation In South Africa, Moscow Says G7 Has Become Irrelevant
