Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says a G20 Africa Expert Panel will be established to support the work of the G20 Finance Track.
He was speaking during the first day of the G20 Finance and Central Banks Deputies’ Meeting, held in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
The Minister explained that the panel will consist of leading African economic, development and finance experts from the public sector, think tanks, academia and international financial institutions.
“We intend to use our Presidency to advance an African agenda. To further this agenda and ensure that we strengthen the manner in which the G20 respond to the social and economic needs of our continent, we intend to establish a G20 Africa Expert Panel to support the G20 Finance Track.
“One of the areas we will request the G20 Africa Expert Panel to advise us on is how we can ensure that the various African initiatives, including the compact with Africa, can be strengthened to the benefit of the continent,” Godongwana said.
On the need to reform the international financial architecture, the Minister said focus will now be on implementation on the agreement reached in the previous G20 Summit held in Brazil, last month.
The agreement – included in the G20 Rio de Janeiro Leaders’ Declaration – states that the group of countries will accelerate the reform of the international financial architecture “so that it can meet the urgent challenges of sustainable development, climate change and efforts to eradicate poverty”.
“The G20 Roadmap towards Better, Bigger and More Efficient [Multilateral Development Banks] was a milestone achievement under Brazil’s Presidency. Now the focus turns to implementation and monitoring.
“The discussions under South Africa’s G20 Presidency will take place alongside the 5th Finance in Common Summit that will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre… from 26 to 28 February 2025, as well as the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Spain in June 2025.
“Both these events provide a critical opportunity for countries to commit to closing the development financing gap and investing in the [Sustainable Development Goals],” Godongwana said.
Turning to debt sustainability, Godongwana said challenges in this area require a “comprehensive approach”.
“We will also keep our focus on enhancing debt sustainability, through improving the implementation of the Common Framework. We are aware that there are countries whose debt is sustainable, but which are facing acute liquidity challenges, which, if not addressed, could result in solvency challenges.
“These challenges necessitate a comprehensive approach towards debt sustainability, which means there is no one size fits all approach.
“It also forces us to acknowledge that debt sustainability cannot be solved through the Common Framework alone but must be solved through a focus on putting in place the measures for countries to make the right investments and undertake appropriate reforms to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth,” he said.
The Minister said although challenges are “formidable”, he expressed confidence that the G20 has the “will, capacity and determination to address them” if countries work together.
“In 2025 let us execute our work programme with urgency, ambition and confidence. Let us work together to ensure strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.
“And through the G20 Presidency for 2025, and propelled by your support, let us go even further as the G20, by going together,” Godongwana concluded. – SAnews.gov.za
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Mallow Man
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?
Rink Ruler
Before getting into a fight with an ugly person, remember that he has nothing to lose