Interview: Collaboration with Global South partners allows Africa better representation on world stage -- AU official

Through the collaboration with China and other Global South partners, Africa can now use multilateral platforms such as the Group of Twenty (G20) to ensure that Africa's voices are heard and its interests clearly understood, Leslie Richer, director of information and communication at the African Union (AU), has said, according to Xinhua.

She made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the Global South Media and Think Tank Forum China-Africa Partnership Conference held in South Africa's Johannesburg on Nov. 13-14.

MEDIA, THINK TANKS PLAY IMPORTANT ROLE

In African nations' collaboration with other Global South countries, media plays an important role in ensuring people-to-people understanding, while think tanks can serve as a foundation for policy discussions, notably those between Africa and China, the AU official said.

When media and think tanks are combined, a dynamic force can be achieved to bring together people from research, academia and media, as well as policymakers to "promote understanding of what we want to do in terms of development," Richer noted.

She said the Global South Media and Think Tank Forum China-Africa Partnership Conference, jointly hosted by Xinhua News Agency, the AU and South Africa's Independent Media, among other partners, took place at a key moment amid a shifting global landscape.

The global order is in transition with centers of economic activity emerging across the Global South, and the demands for fairer representation concerning development and global governance that reflect the realities of the 21st century are growing stronger, according to the AU official.

In her opinion, the narratives that circulate globally about African countries and people are often shaped elsewhere, filtered through lenses that do not reflect the realities of the continent. These narratives can distort understanding and limit the potential for genuine partnership.

"The Global South must be partners not only in trade, infrastructure, and diplomacy, but also in storytelling. We must promote balanced narratives that reflect the dignity, diversity, and dynamism of our peoples through people-to-people and institutional exchanges, so that learning flows in both directions and brings our societies closer," Richer noted.

GLOBAL SOUTH SHOULD BE BETTER REPRESENTED, HEARD

The G20 Leaders' Summit is set to take place on Nov. 22 and 23 in Johannesburg. The AU was invited to join the G20 in September 2023. China was the first country to explicitly express its support for the AU's membership in the G20 -- consistent with its support for the AU in playing a greater role in global governance.

Richer highlighted that the inclusion of Africa through the AU in the G20 is not just symbolic, but also important in making sure Africa has a better representation in today's multilateral world. Apart from G20, other collaboration mechanisms, including the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, allow Africa to have its voices heard on the international stage.

"We are now actually in the rooms, but it's not just about being in the room. It's about impacting the decisions that are being made with the G20," the AU official stressed.

Through the collaboration with China and other Global South partners, Africa can now start using these multilateral platforms to ensure that Africa's voices are heard and that its interests are clearly understood, she said.

This helps strengthen the representation of the Global South in multilateral spaces, according to her.

Advocating global governance reform, she said that the majority of existing international institutions were established at a time when many Global South countries were not independent. "And even when they acquired independence, they were not adequately represented in these governance structures."

Taking many global financial institutions, she noted that their governing rules are not designed to favor developing countries, but are actually impeding their development because "they were not designed with our interests in mind."

Richer called for building a world that is more inclusive, equitable and peaceful, with development being a right instead of a privilege. The destinies of nations should not be determined by historical inequity, but by cooperation and shared progress, she noted.