By Larry Claasen
THE initial plan for Cape Town to host the B20 South Africa 2025, the business-oriented summit of the G20 South Africa 2025, has been changed, with Johannesburg now hosting both summits at the end of the year.
Hosting the B20 South Africa summit would have been a boost for the Western Cape’s tourism and hospitality sector, as it would have brought 2 000 delegates to the Mother City. About half of the delegates would have been international representatives, among which, would have top-level executives.
B20 South Africa 2025 to coincide with landmark G20 event
The hosting of the G20 summit in South Africa will be the largest international event to happen in the country since the hosting of the 2010 FiFA World Cup.
The decision to move the summit to Johannesburg was driven by the need to have it physically closer to the G20 summit, said Anthony Costa, head of the B20 South Africa secretariat. The G20 summit will be held from 22 to 23 November, while the B20 will take place between 18 and 20 November.
The G20 (Group of Twenty) is an international forum of 19 countries plus the European Union, which aims to address global economic and financial issues.
It was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis as a forum for the finance ministers and central bank governors of the most important industrialised and developing economies to discuss international economic and financial stability.
To facilitate these discussions, a member nation hosts an annual meeting of heads of state, along with a series of meetings to set the agenda for the summit. Like the G20, the B20 will also have a series of meetings and its own summit.
B20 South Africa 2025 plays a key advisory role to the G20
The B20 acts as an adviser on business-related matters for the G20 and is not a decision-making body in itself.
“We don’t make policy, we don’t implement policy, but we advocate, we develop and we advocate for policy. So we are dependent on the G20 discussing and actually adopting and implementing those particular policies,” said Costa.
B20 South Africa 2025 shift brings global attention to Joburg
Though the Western Cape’s tourism and hospitality sector will lose out, Johannesburg will have its time to shine, as it will host well over 20 heads of state plus their own sizable delegations, including US president Donald Trump – if he chooses to attend – as well as the CEOs of major multinational businesses.
“It’s going to be a very busy time in Johannesburg with the G20 and associated events. But we are working with the hospitality groups and hospitality associations to try and make sure that there’s enough for the delegates to be suitably accommodated and to be able to travel in and out of Johannesburg for the summit,” said Costa.
