Five African Presidents have flown to Biarritz, France to attend the annual G7 summit which kicked off on Saturday.
On Sunday, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa touched down at France ready to articulate and push for Africa’s interests at the international summit.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the leaders to Biarritz on Saturday as the three-day Summit kicked off. Top of this year’s agenda is global trade and security.
Rwanda and South Africa are among five African countries that were invited to take part in the key forum that will run until Monday 26 August. The other invited African sides are Egypt, Senegal and Burkina Faso. The African Union Commission (AUC) was also invited.
African interests at the world stage
Rwanda was invited in its capacity as the former chair of the African Union, Egypt as the current chair, while South Africa was invited as the incoming chair. Senegal was invited as the current leader of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), while Burkina Faso will be attending the G7 Summit as the chair of G5 Sahel.
South Africa’s Presidency office said the country will collaborate with other developing countries that have been invited to participate in the summit in to advance Africa’s developmental agenda.
Other than the five African states, other non-members that will take part in the 2019 Summit are Australia, Chile and India.
Why is G7 a big deal
The G7 is a forum of the seven countries with the world’s most industrialized and developed economies – France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada – whose government leaders meet annually to discuss important global economic, political, social and security issues.
Together, the G7 countries represent approximately 30 percent to 40 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and 10 percent of the world’s population.
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