Johannesburg: The upcoming Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit at the end of the year is anticipated to significantly enhance the tourism sector’s contribution to economic growth and job creation.
According to South African Government News Agency, the International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Ronald Lamola, shared this perspective while responding to a parliamentary question about his department’s strategy to leverage South Africa’s G20 Presidency to create sustainable benefits for the economy, particularly for small businesses in townships and rural areas.
South Africa, having assumed the Chair of the G20 on 1 December 2023, aims to host meetings across all provinces, attracting tens of thousands of delegates and support staff from major global economies throughout its year-long Presidency. The G20 consists of 19 countries, along with the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), which joined last year, bringing together major and systemically important economies.
Lamola highlighted that the surge in tourism presents opportunities for South African provinces and cities to showcase their cultural heritage and tourism potential. He emphasized that South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 is anticipated to be one of the largest national projects, requiring whole-of-government and society participation, with over 100 in-person meetings to be hosted across the country from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025.
The Minister noted that the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reported that South Africa’s tourism sector employed 1.46 million people in 2023, with expectations to increase to 1.7 million jobs soon. This growth is driven by a targeted initiative aimed at significantly boosting employment over the next five years. WTTC statistics showed that tourism’s direct and indirect contribution to South Africa’s GDP was 8.2% in 2023, with an expected rise to 8.8% in 2024.
Furthermore, Lamola stated that the G20 meetings are anticipated to generate considerable economic benefits, creating many direct and indirect jobs during and beyond this period. He believes Africa’s G20 Presidency offers an opportunity to promote inclusive growth, combat poverty, and ensure sustainable development. The high-level deliverables and priorities identified for South Africa’s G20 Presidency aim to benefit South Africa at national, continental, and global levels.
In addition, South Africa’s second priority under its G20 Presidency is ensuring debt sustainability for developing economies. The nation aims to address debt challenges and mobilize low-cost financing for development, reducing debt service costs for developing countries and freeing up spending on essential services such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, South Africa seeks to leverage its G20 Presidency by promoting the harnessing of critical minerals for inclusive growth and development. The country calls for a G20 framework on green industrialization and investments to add value to critical minerals near their source, promoting beneficiation and local value addition. Lamola stressed that as mineral extraction accelerates to meet energy transition needs, countries and local communities endowed with these resources must be the primary beneficiaries.