NEW DELHI: The African Union (AU) is likely to become a member of the Group of 20 (G20) largest economies with India, which holds the G20 chair, proposing its inclusion ahead of the September 9-10 summit. With the AU’s inclusion, the bloc will become G21. Supporting the AU’s inclusion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “No plan for the future of the planet can be successful without the representation and recognition of all voices”.
“Africa is a top priority for us even within the G20. One of the first things we did during our G20 Presidency was to hold the ‘Voice of the Global South’ summit, which had enthusiastic participation from Africa,” Modi said. “There is a need to come out of a purely utilitarian worldview and embrace a Sarva Jana Hitaaya, Sarva Jana Sukhaaya (for the welfare of all, for the happiness of all) model,” he added.
The AU has 55 member countries.
However, not everyone in AU is excited about India’s push to get them to G20. “Africa is a large continent and the challenges, economy and communities are very diverse. In that context, we feel that this inclusion in the G20 would not translate into anything for us in the literal sense. The Voice of the Global South must be heard but the inclusion in G20 would not help in addressing the concerns. We are grateful for India to consider including us though,” said a representative of an African country.
Sudan is now caught in a civil war that has displaced 4.8 million people. In Rwanda, several opposition leaders have been jailed. Morocco and Algeria are embroiled in territorial disputes. “AU is not a politically cohesive unit. There are issues that countries are facing on their own and with each other. Besides, there are eight regional economic committees which have developed individually with differing structures,” a source said.
Two not on UN list
Some African nations have flagged the inclusion of two AU countries that are not recognised by the UN – Somaliland and Sahraoui Arab Democratic Republic