By Michael Barantschik and Chris Devonshire-Ellis
The annual G20 summit has been underway over the weekend and has been held in New Delhi, India. In this comprehensive article we provide a demographic background to each of the invited members, including the African Union, together with analysis of the main talking points from the Summit Declaration.
THE G20 MEMBERS
The African Union
GDP: US$3 trillion
GDP Per Capita (PPP): US$5,872
2023 Real GDP Growth: 3.7%
Population: 1.3 billion
The African Union was invited; and has taken up an offer to become a permanent member of the G20, making it the second regional bloc to join after the European Union. It adds momentum to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to give a greater voice to the Global South. Modi shook hands with the current AU chair, Comoros President Azali Assoumani, and embraced him warmly before inviting him to sit at the table.
The African Union includes all 55 countries within Continental Africa, and was launched in 2002.
The AU’s secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa. The largest city in the AU is Lagos, Nigeria, while the largest urban agglomeration is Cairo, Egypt. The African Union has more than 1.3 billion people and an area of around 30 million km2 (12 million sq mi) and includes world landmarks, such as the Sahara and the Nile. The primary working languages are Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swahili. Within the African Union, there are official bodies, such as the Peace and Security Council and the Pan-African Parliament.
It is also responsible for organizing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, https://au-afcfta.org/ (AfCFTA) which includes 54 of the 55 nations and has introduced procedures to eliminate cross-border tariffs on 95% of African traded goods, on a phased-in basis ranging from three to twelve years depending on the product type and regional specifics. AfCFTA will have the effect of liberalizing pan African trade and…
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