If everything goes well, the African Union (AU) may participate in the G20 summit meeting as a full member, which is scheduled to be held in September in New Delhi. India’s proposal for the inclusion of the African continent in the group has already received widespread support from various nations including the US. It is hoped that the inclusion of AU in G-20 will mark the end of discrimination towards the continent and Africa will be treated as an equal partner in the world’s quest for peace and prosperity. Already, a few African nations have made their entry into the list of fastest growing economies in the World. In fact, the economic growth in countries like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, etc. are so robust that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Africa may soon become the fastest growing region of the world. So, it is high time for the rest of the world to embrace Africa like never before and G20 provides the perfect stage for such an act.
Traditionally, India has been close to African nations and it has always stood beside these countries protesting against any discriminatory attitude shown towards them. Mahatma Gandhi was the first among world leaders to raise a voice against apartheid in South Africa back in the last century. Since then, India has remained equally proactive to safeguard the interest of this continent. The latest proposal regarding the inclusion of AU as a full member in G-20 highlights India’s concern for the continent as like India, this region has always been attacked by outsiders who wanted to grab its rich natural wealth.
Unlike certain countries trying to impress the African nations in recent times expecting to be benefited from the relationship, India’s concern regarding Africa can be judged by the fact that in 2015, India had hosted the Third India-Africa Forum Summit to give peace and development a new impetus. Critics may claim that after the said meeting not much progress has been made by the two sides in this regard, but the fact remains that the work is still on to strengthen ties between India and the African nations and India’s recent proposal should be seen as a part of this endeavour. If India succeeds in including AU in G20, there will be a vast improvement in the relationship between the two sides.
But the inclusion of AU in G20 as a full member will not solve the problems that the continent has been facing for centuries. On its part, rich nations should resist from exploiting African nations taking advantage of an improved tie. Rather, these nations should partner in the quest of the African people for a better future. Discrimination against the continent is evident from the fact that many countries refused to provide COVID-19 vaccines to African nations during the pandemic. We must remember that the world will never prosper if development continues to elude Africa. AU’s inclusion in G20 will definitely help in ending the discrimination.