Activities of Secretary-General in South Africa, 21-23 November

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, early in the afternoon on Friday, 21 November, to attend the annual Group of 20 (G20) meeting.

A few hours after his arrival, in a press encounter with the media ahead of the G20, the Secretary-General noted that as the world's largest economies, the G20 can hold enormous influence to ease suffering, ensure that economic growth is widely shared and set our world on a better, more peaceful course for the future. Soon after, he did a live interview with Sherwin Brice-Pease for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

On Saturday morning, 22 November, the Secretary-General addressed the G20's first session, titled "Inclusive and sustainable economic growth leaving no one behind: Building our economies; the role of trade; financing for development and the debt burden". The Secretary-General noted that inclusive, fair and broad-based economic growth is the best weapon we have in fighting poverty, hunger and unemployment. But growth prospects, the Secretary-General said, particularly in Africa, have dimmed due to recent crises, higher borrowing costs, geopolitical tensions and rising trade barriers. He stressed that we must help countries move beyond commodity dependence and build links to global value chains that drive jobs and prosperity, including in the digital, green and service economies.

The session was followed by a working lunch.

In the afternoon, in session 2, titled "A Resilient World - the G20's contribution: Disaster risk reduction; climate change; just energy transitions; food systems", the Secretary-General noted that Africa will pay a deadly price, despite doing very little to cause the problem. He emphasized that we need the G20's leadership and support as we build the resilient world people and planet require.

That evening, the Secretary-General attended the G20 Leader's reception.

The next day, on Sunday morning, 23 November, the Secretary-General held a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abyi Ahmed Ali.

Afterwards, the Secretary-General spoke at the G20's final session titled, "A Fair and Just Future for All: Critical minerals; decent work; artificial intelligence". He warned that the global economy is at an inflection point, with the breathtaking growth of new industries like artificial intelligence and renewable energy. 

In the afternoon of Sunday, 23 November, the Secretary-General departed Johannesburg.