Daniel Mminele: Africa and the G-20 - some implications for the work of the T-20

Keynote address by Mr Daniel Mminele, Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at the T-20 Africa Conference, Johannesburg, 1 February 2017.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

1. Introduction

Good evening, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to thank the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and the Germany co-chairs of the T-20, namely the German Development Institute and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IFW Kiel), for the kind invitation to address you this evening.

The Think Tank 20 was initiated during the Mexican presidency of the G-202 in 2012 as a collaborative network of premier think tanks from the G-20 economies and other high-level experts. The aim of the T-20 is to provide analytical depth to G-20 discussions so as to assist in developing concrete and sustainable research based policy measures.

Think tanks and academics from the G-20 countries have indeed made important contributions in the past to the G-20 dialogue via the T-20 forum. Events such as this conference serve to reinforce this view and showcase the work being undertaken by the T-20. Dennis Snower, President of the IFW Kiel, summarised the work of the T-20 for this year aptly when he said: "In 2017, the T-20 aims to support the German G-20 presidency in rising to the diverse but interconnected global challenges that the G-20 faces."