South Africa playing the G7 business roulette

By Kestér Kenn KLOMEGÂH

South Africa highly boasts its membership in multilateral organisations, the latest being included in BRICS+, described as non-Western association.

Russian authorities have insisted that the association was created, not as ‘anti-Western’ and its members have the freedom to leverage with any external nations. For now, BRICS+ strongly advocates for multipolarism, a new political and economic architecture to oppose United States dominance and hegemony.

South Africa and United States relations has deteriorated during the past few years due to serious discrimination against the white minority, in addition to racist attitudes toward fellow Africans. South Africa also claims holding steadfast the basic principles of African unity that has been propagated since United Nations declared Africa as fully liberated in 1963 and formed the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now transformed into African Union (AU).

South Africa and its participation in G7

The 52nd G7 Summit is scheduled on 15–17 June 2026 in Évian-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, France. This will mark the second time Évian-les-Bains hosts a 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, allegedly, indicated Washington pressuring Paris to exclude South Africa from participating in the forthcoming summit.

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 It also emerged that Paris had rescinded its invitation to Pretoria, which a South African presidency spokesperson said was “due to sustained pressure” from Washington, adding that the US threatened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

Reports said that Ramaphosa’s public reversal could de-escalate its dispute with both Washington and Paris. A French official earlier denied excluding South Africa from the upcoming meeting, saying that Paris had invited Kenya as the African representative for the talks alongside the leaders of Brazil, India, and South Korea.

Relations between Pretoria and Washington have been deteriorating for years. The US continues to argue that South Africa discriminates against its white minority, a charge that Pretoria and experts have dismissed. Relations between the countries were already strained over a genocide case that South Africa filed against Israel in 2023. Earlier this month, South Africa summoned the new US ambassador for a formal dressing down after he publicly dismissed a court ruling about an anti-apartheid chant.

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

France has, however, denied yielding to any US pressure, saying it had decided to invite Kenya this time. France, which holds the presidency of the G7 industrialised nations, said it would host leaders from South Korea and three other non-member countries – India, Brazil and Kenya – at its annual summit in Évian-les-Bains. It said the invitations were part of efforts to “correct global economic imbalances”.

France as Africa’s key partner

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the AFP news agency that his country had “not yielded to any pressure” but had opted for a “streamlined G7,” inviting Kenya instead to help prepare the France-Africa summit in Nairobi in May. “We have not asked the French 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 summit for French President Emmanuel Macron. A White House official told Reuters that the decision to invite ​Kenya came after talks among G7 members. Macron is due to visit Kenya in May for the two-day Africa-France summit.

Kenya will hold this investment summit for France to position Africa as a key partner in global innovation and economic development, while strengthening bilateral ties with France and advancing Africa’s collective agenda on the international stage. France has taken the initiative to create a platform in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, located in East Africa.

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