"JOHANNESBURG, South Africa This weekend's G20 Leaders' Summit in South Africa was unusual for several reasons. The first summit on the African continent was also the first time the U.S. had boycotted the summit of the world's largest economies. It was also unprecedented in that the group of disparate nations agreed to a declaration at the meeting's start rather than its conclusion, and that there was no ceremonial handover between the outgoing and incoming G20 chairs."
"Despite what some officials and analysts said were Washington's best attempts to derail the event, South African Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola was upbeat as it wrapped up on Sunday at a convention center not far from the famous Johannesburg township of Soweto. "In a nutshell this has been a great success for our country," said Lamola. Earlier Sunday, host President Cyril Ramaphosa had declared the meeting closed, banging a ceremonial gavel on the table."
The G20 Leaders' Summit in South Africa was the first G20 meeting on the African continent and proceeded despite a U.S. boycott. The U.S. boycott followed President Trump falsely accusing South Africa of confiscating white-owned land and allowing killings of white Afrikaners and included objections to the summit's diversity, equity and inclusion agenda. The summit agreed to a declaration at its start and lacked the customary ceremonial handover between outgoing and incoming chairs. South African officials refused Washington's request to hand the gavel to a junior embassy official. Host leaders closed the meeting with a gavel and described the summit as a success.
Read at www.npr.org
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