S African officials expect 2025 G20 summit to promote sustainable development, poverty reduction

Officials and experts in South Africa, host of the 2025 G20 summit, have expressed expectations that the event will promote sustainable development and poverty reduction among Global South countries.

The country will assume the G20 Presidency on Dec 1 and host the summit in 2025, succeeding Brazil, host of the ongoing 2024 summit.

As the only African nation in the G20, South Africa's presidency is expected to present an opportunity to focus on African priorities, such as economic development, climate change, health conditions and digital transformation, according to the officials.

These pressing concerns are reflected in the official theme for next year's summit, according to Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

"The theme that South Africa has adopted is 'Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability'. And that theme talks to both the dynamics in the Global South, but also the aspirations with respect to how to achieve equitable and sustainable development of economies that for the longest time have been held back from developing for a number of reasons," said Magwenya.

South African policy experts stressed that next year's meetings will build on the success of negotiations in Rio de Janeiro, where the leaders' summit is underway through Nov 19.

"If you just pivot to the success of Brazil alone -- the partnership to end food poverty and so on and so forth -- all of these issues are imminent in the aspirations of the peoples of the Global South. Brazil has done a fantastic job to elevate these issues in discussion," said Mikatekiso Kubayi, a senior researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue, a non-governmental organization in Pretoria, South Africa.

The G20 summit being held for the first time on African soil presents a historical opportunity for the continent, as South Africa has always championed Africa's issues on a global stage, according to the presidential spokesperson.

"The issue of the reform of the international financial institutions. Allied to that is the issue of debt, how that debt process is managed for the benefit of the Global South, particularly African countries," Magwenya said.

At least 120 meetings are planned in South Africa in the coming year, and along with it comes a boost for the country's economic sector.

"The meeting of the heads of state will take place on the 27th of November 2025. And it's an opportunity, once in a lifetime opportunity for South Africa, not only to showcase South Africa but the rest of the continent," said Patricia de Lille, Minister of Tourism of South Africa.

S African officials expect 2025 G20 summit to promote sustainable development, poverty reduction

As the diplomatic engagement between the United States and Iran continues despite a faltering ceasefire, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said that Iran is prepared to use military power to break the U.S. maritime blockade should the negotiations collapse or run on too long.

Mohsen Rezaee, who also currently serves as a member of the Iranian Expediency Discernment Council, struck a confident tone about Iran's current trajectory in an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Tehran on Wednesday.

He said the country has withstood over two decades of crippling sanctions and continued to move forward.

"We have been under sanctions for more than 20 years. The number of sanctions likely exceeds 2,000, targeting individuals, enterprises, corporations, ships, insurance companies, and even foreign countries that interacted with us. However, we have managed to find solutions to neutralize these sanctions, and we will continue to do so moving forward," he said.

He said Iran aims to ease the sanctions burden through talks with the U.S., although at the same time, he said, Iran is ready to shift to a military response if the path to a peaceful resolution closes.

"Furthermore, we will compel the U.S. to lift these sanctions. We will force the U.S. to end the maritime blockade -- either through negotiations or, should they resist, through direct action and we will attack U.S. warships. Therefore, despite all the pressures, the future of our economy is bright and promising, while the future of the US economy is bleak," he said.

While any new war against Iran would be a dead end, the best way out for the U.S. is to continue talks, according to the senior official.

"We have prepared ourselves so that if the maritime blockade continues beyond a certain timeframe, we will launch an attack and break the blockade. The Americans have no choice but to negotiate. Continuing this war is a journey into a very dark tunnel for the United States. The more America chooses to fight, the deeper it enters a tunnel with no end. Yet for us, the path is perfectly clear. America is moving toward us in the dark, while we are monitoring their every move," he said.

Former IRGC chief says Iran ready to break U.S. naval blockade by force if talks fail