Africa Catalyzes Global Finance Role as Dakar Conference Unveils Roadmap for G20 Influence

By Mbungu Harrison

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

A major two-day G20 Regional Conference has released a comprehensive Outcome Document that firmly positions the African continent as a stronger, more influential actor in global economic governance.

The conference for West Africa, hosted in Dakar on October 30-31, 2025, concluded with a stronger roadmap for G20 influence on matters of global finance.

The conference, organized by AfriCatalyst in partnership with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), UNDP Africa, and AUDA-NEPAD, brought together a high-level assembly of government representatives, regional institutions, development partners, economists, and private-sector experts.

Their collective goal was to consolidate Africa’s strategic priorities ahead of the 2025 G20 Summit in South Africa.

The official document outlines actionable recommendations and shared priorities aimed at addressing the continent’s most pressing financing challenges and maximizing the impact of the African Union’s recent permanent membership in the G20.

The Outcome Document highlights several core themes essential for Africa’s advancement on the global stage, including the need for concrete strategies to ensure debt sustainability and restructuring for low and middle-income economies, mechanisms to reduce Africa’s persistently high cost of capital, and efforts to strengthen the continent’s internal development finance architecture.

It also emphasizes improving access to and ensuring equity in climate finance, advancing reforms of the international financial architecture to reflect Africa’s evolving global role, and leveraging the African Union’s permanent G20 seat to promote more coherent and unified continental advocacy.

Dr Daouda Sembene, chief executive officer of AfriCatalyst, emphasized the historic opportunity presented by the current environment, especially following the groundwork laid by the South African G20 presidency.

“South Africa’s presidency in the G20 for the past one year has yielded many gains in the key priority areas,” he stated.

The CEO underscored the collaborative spirit of the conference, noting that the Outcome Document reflects a shared commitment to lowering the cost of capital, advancing debt reforms, and ensuring Africa’s priorities are meaningfully integrated into global decision-making processes.

“With the African Union now a permanent member of the G20, Africa has an even better and an unprecedented opportunity to champion for reforms that directly address the continent’s financing challenges.”

The roadmap presented in the document is designed to guide African policymakers and development institutions in advancing fairer global financing rules, strengthening regional financial bodies, improving credit rating transparency, expanding access to concessional and climate financing, and fostering more coordinated African advocacy at global platforms.

Attendees hope that as the global community prepares for the upcoming G20 Summit, this evidence-based document serves as a crucial resource that will guide Africa’s contributions to G20 negotiations and other multilateral processes, including FfD4 and COP30.