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Deputy President Paul Mashatile meets with VISA’s top Management.
Calls for Africa trading with Africa were made at the B20 summit, which took place this week in Sandton, Johannesburg.
The B20 summit is held just days ahead of the official G20 heads of state meetings happening this weekend, 22 to 23 November 2025.
Business leaders and policymakers say to grow the African market, policy reform to boost trade and investment needs to be adjusted.
African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) Secretary General, Wamkele Mene, says the continent also needs to find ways of mobilising capital to invest in significant projects
“A very significant part of the mandate of the AFCFTA and the African Union in general is to reverse that trend and to change that pattern and to focus on value addition, transforming raw materials into finished products here on the African continent. A number of areas are absolutely essential for these critical minerals was mentioned that will continue to drive and power industrial development over the next decades. So, we have to take very, very concrete measures and concrete steps at value addition in Africa. That means that our development finance institutions will have to step up.”
WATCH | Africa intra-trade took centre stage at the B20 Summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, alongside other pressing topics. The summit acts as a platform for shaping the global economic agenda and for highlighting Africa’s role in the world economy. pic.twitter.com/xHCshf3foy
— SABC News (@SABCNews) November 20, 2025
President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the B20 report handed over to him on Thursday and says the G20 gave South Africa an opportunity to market the continent as a leader for economic growth.
“This is a moment of great significance for our continent. It is also a moment of great opportunity. I’d like to believe is an opportunity for Africa to assert itself and to assert its place in global affairs. When we accepted the presidency of the G20, we immediately said that we are going to focus on Africa and get the world to start looking at Africa and its great potential to affirm its position, as a leader of economic growth and social progress.”
Executive Head for International Trade at Standard Bank Business and Commercial Banking, Luthando Vumba, reiterated the urgent need for government stakeholders to shift policies toward creating a more investor-friendly, accessible, and inclusive market.
“The finance and infrastructure task force looked at what the problem is, where we find ourselves in the world. There is a threat to the multilateral trading system, which means if things continue at the trend that they are, whether it’s policy shifts or tariffs, it’ll become more and more costly and difficult for SMEs to operate and to remain in business.”
The B20 Finance and Infrastructure Task Force warned that the current global climate poses a threat to the established international trading system, a trend that disproportionately impacts smaller businesses.
The G20 finale will take place at Nasrec, in the south of Johannesburg this coming Saturday and Sunday.
G20 Summit | B20 Summit prioritises African intra-trade to shape global agenda
