Africa was all but invisible at a weekend summit of the world’s rich democracies, which resolved to tighten sanctions on Russia, and to strengthen efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
At the close of the Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Hiroshima on Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasised the leaders’ determination to uphold the international rule of law “wherever in the world” there were unilateral attacks on sovereign states. He also hailed the agreement by the G7 on its first stand-alone document on the non-use of nuclear weapons and the affirmation that a nuclear war “cannot be won and must never be fought”.
The G7 leaders made it clear they would strongly support Ukraine for “as long as it takes in the face of Russia’s illegal war of aggression”, with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the talks on Sunday and addressing a media conference in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park on Sunday evening after the close of the summit.
But Kishida’s comments also seemed to reflect a recognition by the G7 that if they wanted poorer countries to support their efforts to halt Russia’s aggression against Ukraine or the threat of Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific, they needed to offer more in return.
Kishida said the world was faced with multiple crises, which particularly affected the “Global South” and acknowledged that if the G7 leaders wanted support for their appeal to fully defend the international rule of law, they needed to co-operate with emerging markets and developing economies. The summit agreed on the leaders’ responsibility to tackle the food crisis, climate crisis, pandemic preparedness and global infrastructure, among the areas of partnership. Kishida will act as a bridge between the G7 and the G20, which includes several emerging markets, including SA.
But while the communique from the Hiroshima meeting said the G7 leaders are determined to work together and with others to “strengthen our partnerships with African countries and support greater African representation in multilateral fora”, no detail was provided.
The Comoros was the only African country invited to the summit as one of the “outreach” guests, along with seven other countries, most from Asia and the Indo-Pacific region, which was a particular priority for Japan as host of this year’s summit.
SA, which has attended several of the G7 summits in the past, was not invited this time. Instead, Japan invited the Comoros because it is this year’s chair of the AU. But it is not clear what, if any, Africa-specific concerns Comoros President Azali Assoumani raised in a 30-minute bilateral meeting with Kishida on Sunday morning.
A media release from the Japanese foreign ministry said that Kishida told Azali he had seen the continent’s potential first-hand on his recent visit to four African countries — Kenya, Mozambique, Ghana and Egypt — while Azali expressed gratitude for Japan’s support for Africa and his desire to strengthen bilateral relations.
The foreign ministry said the two leaders exchanged views on the situation in Sudan and Ukraine, as well as the North Korea issue.
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