South African President Cyril Ramaphosa opened a meeting of finance ministers and heads of central banks (CBs) of the Group of Twenty (G20) states in Cape Town on 26 February. This is reported by the website of the South African Government.

In his speech, the Head of State recalled that one of the key priorities of the South African presidency of the G20 is the adoption of measures to strengthen resilience to natural disasters.

“The global community – including international financial institutions, development banks and the private sector – to scale up funding for disaster prevention and post-disaster reconstruction” – Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa.

He recalled that South Africa’s priorities also include ensuring the financial stability of low-income states. In this regard, Ramaphosa emphasised that G20 participants must help developing countries deal with the high cost of capital that hinders their sustainable growth, as well as address imbalances in the global economy and fill the financing gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He said the South African leadership during the G20 presidency will also focus on raising finance for a just energy transition, including through the expansion of concessional and grant funds for developing countries.

Ramaphosa added that he has instructed South Africa’s finance ministry to take measures to improve the efficiency of G20 work processes on the finance track.

Earlier, the G20 foreign ministers met in Johannesburg. The President of South Africa stated the need to achieve the SDGs.

African Times published this article in partnership with International Media Network TV BRICS