Germany supports the African Union’s bid to get a seat at the G20 group of large economies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday during his second trip to Africa, as the West seeks to woo the continent away from growing rivals like China.
Scholz was speaking after meeting African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat in Addis Ababa on the first leg of a three day trip to Ethiopia and Kenya.
“Africa must play a bigger role in international relations, a role that does justice to the continent and its growing population,” he said at a joint news conference, noting he was “convinced” the African Union would get a seat at the G20 soon.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the first representative of a G20 member state to call for the inclusion of the 55-country bloc, last year. South Africa is currently the only member of the G20, which consists of 19 countries and the European Union, from the African continent.
Ramaphosa’s proposal swiftly received support from U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron as the West vies to position itself as a partner to African countries amid growing competition with authoritarian countries like Russia and China.
The latter has sought to expand its influence there by funding infrastructure projects.
A G20 seat would give one of the fastest-growing regions of the world a bigger voice on key issues such as climate change.
