[Spanish version available here.] With the growing concentration of wealth and power, the financial and corporate sectors tend to capture governments to promote their own enrichment. A consequence is inequality. For instance, in Cape Town, South Africa, the approach of “Day Zero” – when the city runs out of water – has dire consequences, especially […]
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El rol del G20 en la agenda de infraestructura
Una de las consecuencias es la inequidad. Por ejemplo, en Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica, la aproximación al “Día Cero” – es decir, cuando la ciudad se queda sin agua – conlleva consecuencias graves, especialmente para aquellos en situación de pobreza. El “Día Cero” ya ha llegado para millones de personas que no tienen acceso a […]
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IMF and World Bank: Marching to a G20 Tune?
This year, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting on October 12-13 overlapped with the IMF-World Bank annual meeting on October 13-15 in Washington, D.C. As of December 1, 2017, Argentina becomes G20 President with the past and future Presidents (Germany and Japan, respectively) as part of the G20 Troika. At the October […]
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The G20 Infrastructure Partnerships with Africa: Obstacles in the way
This article first appeared on the International Development Blog by the German Development Institute. The G20 Partnership with Africa, highlights the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA), which aims at boosting private investment, especially in infrastructure. The G20 Leaders’ Declaration promises to “align our joint measures with regional strategies and priorities,” including the 10-year implementation plan […]
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Beware the Cascade-World Banck to the Future
The G20, the World Bank’s “Cascade”, and Trump: Going to any Length to “Crowd In” the Private Sector? For several years, there have been efforts to shift the mission of the World Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) to one of “crowding in” private investment. Especially since the early 2000s, World Bank critics (including […]
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Aspiration vs. Reality- The G20 Approach to Africa
Robin Schmuecker – Heinrich Boell Foundation, Economic Governance & G20 program. On June 12-13, 2017, Germany will host the G20 Finance Ministers and other government and business dignitaries at the “Africa Partnership Conference: ‘Investing in a Common Future’ in Berlin. The outcomes of this Conference will be announced only weeks later at the July 7-8 G20 […]
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The G20’s Compact with Africa: Some Disastrous Recipes for Sustainable Development
Markus Henn – Advisor on financial markets, WEED, Germany The G20’s “Compact with Africa”, as set out in the report by the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in March 2017, rightfully points out the importance of a sufficient public framework to attract investors, including the need to raise taxes […]
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Trump rhetoric seems to have had an effect on G20 governments’ willingness to bring up climate change. Such reluctance can’t remain – By Sasanka Thilakasiri
This year’s G20 represents one of the first and best opportunities for a global response to the reckless and immoral climate backsliding we are seeing by the Trump administration. And it’s off to a pathetic start.
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G20 Governance Shortcomings mean Finance Ministers make little Progress – By Jesse Griffiths
While media reports largely focussed on trade policy – an area the G20 has never made important decisions on – the real impact of the new US administration has been to severely limit the scope of new initiatives planned by the G20 this year, highlighting major deficiencies in its governance structure.
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Corporate Influence on the G20 – By Jens Martens
Corporate lobby groups have created a broad network of influence channels around the G20, with the Business 20 (B20) at its core. At the G20 Sherpa meeting in Frankfurt on 23-24 March the B20 presents its policy recommendations to the governments. Traditionally, the business lobby in the G20 has been pushing for overcoming “overregulation” of […]
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Germany’s “Marshall Plan with Africa”: Tackling the Push Factors of Migration
Merkel’s newly released “Marshall Plan with Africa” claims to tackle migration causes at their roots – but is this clear-headed policymaking or an early campaign move to appease German voters?
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