The eight B20 South Africa task forces set up to make business-led policy proposals for consideration at the G20 Summit in November aim to finalise their recommendations by September.

The B20 is the official G20 dialogue forum for the global business community and is being convened by South Africa in 2025 under the leadership of Business Unity South Africa.

The summit will take place just ahead of the G20 Summit, and bring together up to 3 000 business leaders, heads of international organisations, and public policy experts from about 25 countries under the theme ‘Inclusive Growth and Prosperity Through Global Cooperation’.  

B20 South Africa sherpa Cas Coovadia reports that the task forces include CEOs from multinational corporations, entrepreneurs, academics, and civil society representatives and are co-led by a group of business leaders across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.

Coovadia highlighted that half of the task-force chairs were women for the first time in B20’s history, describing it as a milestone that underscored South Africa’s leadership in promoting inclusive and representative global dialogue.

The eight task forces that have been formed, include:

• A trade and investment task force, chaired by the Industrial Development Corporation’s Busi Mabuza;
• The employment and education task force, chaired by Sanlam’s Paul Hanratty;
• An energy mix and just transition task force, chaired by Nedbank’s Daniel Mminele;
• A digital transformation task force, chaired by Naspers’ Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa;
• The finance and infrastructure task force, chaired by Standard Bank’s Sim Tshabalala;
• An integrity and compliance task force, chaired by Deloitte Africa’s Ruwayda Redfearn;
• A sustainable food systems and agriculture task force, chaired by Bayer’s Debra Mallowah; and
• The industrial transformation and innovation task force, chaired by Toyota’s Andrew Kirby.

Besides crafting evidence-based proposals on trade, energy, digital inclusion and climate resilience, the task forces will be expected to elevate African perspectives and drive post-summit implementation through partnerships and regional initiatives.

The task forces have until September to finalise policy recommendations for submission to the G20.

In a separate but related development, President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Professor Mariana Mazzucato as technical expert to South Africa’s G20 Presidency and his special Presidential representative to the government task force on inclusive economic growth, industrialisation, employment, and reduced inequality.

Mazzucato has been a member of Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council since 2019, advising on areas such as green industrial strategy, State capacity, and reform of State-owned enterprises.