Fati N’zi-Hassane, Director of Oxfam in Africa said:
“It’s a long-awaited good news and only proper that African Union is invited to join the G20. If Africa were a country, it would account for 2,99 trillion USD, making it the 7th largest economy, right after UK and before France.
“AU joining the G20 can be an instrument of effective multilateralism, provided it is not used as a platform to further influence African Union and its members on Global North agenda.
“The AU will have to resist the siren’s calls for short term profit, as inequalities continue to grow on the continent. While the majority of the population struggles with the rising cost of living and energy, the wealthiest individuals and companies continue to accumulate wealth.
“The AU should seize this opportunity to keep pushing for decolonizing the international financial systems and ensure that they work for everyone; to play a meaningful role on G20-led debt relief initiative; to hold rich countries accountable to their many commitments towards the Majority world such as to spend at least 0.7% of their Gross National Income on development and to put up mechanisms to ensure that this promise and many others are never broken again.”