Taoiseach begins landmark South Africa trip as Ireland takes seat at G20 summit

Taoiseach launches economic and diplomatic programme in Johannesburg before addressing key G20 sessions on growth and global resilience

Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Taoiseach Micheál Martin will begin a three-day trip to South Africa today as he becomes the first Irish leader to attend a G20 summit.

Mr Martin will attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg on Saturday and Sunday.

This afternoon, he will open a series of economic, community and bilateral meetings at an Enterprise Ireland lunch attended by 150 guests and business leaders.

He will also take part in the Global Citizens Now event alongside South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. The event marks the culmination of a one-year Scaling Up Renewables in Africa campaign and will see Mr Martin take part in a "fireside chat."

He will then attend the Eighth Replenishment Summit of the Global Fund, the primary mechanism for pooling and administering development assistance funding for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The event will be co-hosted by the South African and British governments.

This evening, the Taoiseach will attend a Bord Bia event promoting Irish whiskey and address an Irish community reception.

Mr Martin is expected to address two sessions at Saturday’s sitting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, focusing on inclusive and sustainable economic growth and building a more "resilient world."

On Sunday, he will attend the closing session of the summit and hold several bilateral meetings with world leaders on the margins of the event before travelling to Angola for an EU–Africa summit.

The Taoiseach said it was a “tremendous honour” that Ireland had been invited to attend the G20 for the first time.

UK prime minister Keir Starmer watches the Fire and Ivory Pantsula dance group perform as he is welcomed by a South African official as he arrives at O.R. Tambo International Airport ahead of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Picture: Leon Neal/PA Wire

“We are deeply grateful to the South African Presidency for this invitation, and my attendance at the Leaders’ Summit is a culmination of work across Government over the past 12 months to make a positive contribution to the work of the G20,” he said.

“I have spoken extensively in recent months on the importance of the multilateral system, and our participation in the G20 has offered a unique opportunity for Ireland to work with the world’s largest economies to examine how best to tackle the large-scale challenges we all face and ways we can work together to solve global challenges, in particular ensuring sustainable economic growth and leaving nobody behind.

“While visiting South Africa, I will also undertake a one-day bilateral programme. Our participation in the G20 has also afforded us a wonderful opportunity to further strengthen our relationship with South Africa.” 

The G20, an intergovernmental forum, brings together 20 of the world’s leading economies to discuss global issues. Ireland is among a small number of countries invited as guest participants at this year’s G20, the first to be held on the African continent.

US president Donald Trump announced earlier this month that the United States would boycott the event, suggesting that South Africa should “not even be in the G20."

In May, during a tetchy White House bilateral, Mr Trump ambushed Mr Ramaphosa by playing videos purportedly showing evidence of a “genocide” of white farmers.

Mr Ramaphosa said he had never seen the videos and stated after the meeting that there is “no genocide in South Africa."