South Africa is playing G7 business roulette

By Kester Ken Clomagh

South Africa highly boasts of its membership in multilateral organisations, the latest being BRICS+, which has been described as a non-Western association.

Russian officials have stressed that the union is not designed as 'anti-Western' and that its members have the freedom to seek leverage with any outside nation. At present, BRICS+ strongly advocates multipolarism, a new political and economic architecture to resist the dominance and hegemony of the United States.

In addition to racist attitudes towards fellow Africans, relations between South Africa and the United States have deteriorated over the years due to severe discrimination against the white minority. South Africa also claims to hold firmly to the basic principles of African unity that have been promoted by the United Nations since Africa's independence in 1963 and the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU).

South Africa and its participation in the G7

The 52nd G7 summit is scheduled for 15-17 June 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, France. This will be the second time that Evian-les-Bains will host the G7 summit, having previously hosted the 29th G8 summit in 2003. But, South Africa is unlikely to be part of this summit due to diverse interpretations. Reports reportedly indicate that Washington is pressuring Paris to exclude South Africa from participating in the upcoming summit.

South Africa walked back earlier complaints that Washington had pressured France to rescind an invitation to attend June's G7 summit, a U-turn that could defuse the diplomatic row. It also emerged that Paris had rescinded its invitation to Pretoria, which a South African presidential spokesman said was “due to continued pressure” from Washington, adding that the US had threatened a boycott if South Africa attended. But, President Cyril Ramaphosa later said there was no pressure from “the United States or any other country”.

Reports say Ramaphosa's public reversal could ease his standoff with both Washington and Paris. A French official had earlier refused to exclude South Africa from the upcoming meeting, saying that Paris had invited Kenya as the African representative for talks with the leaders of Brazil, India and South Korea.

Relations between Pretoria and Washington have been poor for years. The US continues to argue that South Africa discriminates against its white minority, a charge rejected by Pretoria and experts. Relations between the countries were already strained over a genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel in 2023. Earlier this month, South Africa called on the new US ambassador to dress formally after he publicly rejected a court ruling regarding anti-apartheid slogans.

South Africa has participated in several G7 summits. Tensions deepened last year when the US imposed the highest tariffs on South Africa. He claimed that US President Donald Trump had threatened to boycott the summit if the South African leader attended. “An invitation to the G7 does not mean that you are being insulted or ignored if you are not invited,” Ramaphosa said.

However, France has refused to bow to any US pressure, saying it has decided to invite Kenya this time. France, which holds the presidency of the G7 industrialized nations, said it would host the leaders of South Korea and three other non-member countries – India, Brazil and Kenya – at their annual summit in Evian-les-Bains. It said the invitations were part of efforts to “correct global economic imbalances”.

France is a major partner of Africa

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the AFP news agency that his country had “not bowed to any pressure” but had opted for a “streamlined G7”, inviting Kenya to help prepare for the France-Africa summit in Nairobi in May. “We have not asked France to exclude South Africa from the G7 summit,” a State Department official told the agency.

The 2026 summit will be the first for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and the last for French President Emmanuel Macron. A White House official told Reuters the decision to invite Kenya came after talks between G7 members. Macron is scheduled to visit Kenya in May for a two-day Africa-France summit.

Kenya will host this investment summit for France to strengthen bilateral relations with France and advance Africa's collective agenda on the international stage, as well as position Africa as a key partner in global innovation and economic growth. France has taken the initiative to build a platform in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, located in East Africa.

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