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G20 Voices getting together before the G20 Summit

April 1, 2009 in G20 by Mentalacrobatics | 5 comments

G20Voice logoI am in London at the kind invitation of G20Voice. 50 bloggers will be your eyes and ears at the G20 Summit in London, April 2. We come from 22 different countries, and between us represent a global audience of over 14 million readers and online participants. Some are journalists who use blogging as their medium to disseminate their views. Some are ‘professional bloggers’, others of us are are ordinary citizens who have become known through our blogs.

We have been given the same media accreditation as the main stream media to enter the G20 Summit tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to make a positive impact for citizen journalists and some of you will be invited to the G8 and other high level meetings in the future.

So who’s here at the G20?

Leaders of the world’s major economies and of global economic financial institutions have been invited to attend the London Summit. This includes the leaders of the G20 countries, which represent:

  • 90% of global GNP (gross domestic product)
  • 80% of world trade
  • two-thirds of the world’s population

Having said all that only two African leaders are here:

Kgalema Motlanthe – President of the Republic of South Africa
Meles Zenawi – Prime Ministe of Ethiopia in his role as Chair of NEPAD

This is a dire state of affairs even if you go beyond the numbers. Motlanthe is just keeping the seat warm until South Afrcian elections later this month, and Zenawi well you couldn’t have asked for a better example of a “soft” dictator that are the bane of our continent!

So who speaks for Africa here? Or even – should Africa be speaking here? Should Africa want to be involved in the G20? I think the important thing is to keep a sense of perspective by keeping an eye on the big picture and to question even the basic assumptions.

Arriving in London this morning and making my way by tube from Heathrow to Westminster, in the heart of the city, (the Houses of Parliament, 10 Downing Street etc are only a few steps away) was notable only in that it was uneventful, none of the chaos that has been hyped to a ridiculous level by people with various agendas.