Merz Urges Trump to Invite South Africa to G20 Summit: "Africa Belongs at the Table" ‎

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged US President Donald Trump to invite South Africa to the G20 summit in Miami in December. He argued that Africa must have a voice in discussions on the future of the global economy, Reuters reported.

Speaking in Berlin on Wednesday, Merz stressed that both South Africa and the African Union are full members of the G20, the forum of the world's major economies. "Obviously, Africa belongs at the table," he said.

The appeal comes against the backdrop of a deep diplomatic rift between Washington and Pretoria. Trump announced last year that South Africa would not be invited to the 2026 summit. The move followed tensions over his widely discredited claims that South Africa's Black-majority government persecutes the country's white minority.

Washington also boycotted last year's G20 leaders' summit in Johannesburg.

Merz's renewed call has not yet produced a confirmed change in the US position, and South Africa's attendance in Miami remains uncertain.

The episode raises a wider question about the G20's credibility. With the African Union a permanent member since 2023, excluding Africa's largest industrial economy from a summit on the global economy risks weakening the forum's claim to inclusiveness. It also leaves a gap in how African interests are represented at the table.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880

Source: DW Africa, citing Reuters.