Better G20 representation for Africa sought

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The new G20 brought more of the world into the club that steers global economic policies, but the emerging group must better represent Africa, says the President of Nigeria, the continent's biggest nation.

In Canada for an outreach session between G8 leaders and seven African heads of state, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan argues the G20 will need greater representation from the continent if it wants to chart a better common course for the global economy. Africa, a continent of one billion people, has only one G20 representative: South Africa.

Mr. Goodluck argues it's not just an issue of fairness but common interest - just as the old G8 club needed to expand to include rising economic powers, the new G20 must find a place to encourage the next wave of markets they will need - in Africa.

"Africa should be well represented in the G20. Because we are talking about the global village. What affects one nation invariably affects the others. If African nations have challenges, the West also pays for it," Mr. Jonathan said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

It is a dilemma: the old G8 lost its role as an economic steering committee because it didn't represent major emerging economies which had to be at the table to address global economic threats. The G20 is already unwieldy, and in practice numbers more than 20. But even with a summit that now includes China, India, Mexico, and Brazil, there's still a major continent, arguing it represents economic potential, if not current financial power, that's barely represented.

And the likely expansion of the G20's mandate - the next host, South Korea, intends to put development issues squarely on the group's agenda - will only heighten arguments that the world's poorest continent is missing.

Africa should have a place in the G20 to press policies that will help it produce, rather than have it beg for assistance, Mr. Jonathan said. And other nations should see Africa's potential for their economies.

"For the developed side to develop, they need the developing countries. If you manufacture and there's nobody to buy, you cannot sell. Nigeria has over 150 million people," he said. "... So even for economic reasons, you need to encourage them."

Mr. Jonathan makes no secret that he is arguing for his own nation's place. Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa and the dominant nation in West Africa. It is the obvious candidate.

But its troubles, a history of military dictatorships between 1966 and 1999, corruption and organized crime, have underlined why Nigeria, and Africa, have not found a bigger place. When the architects of the G20 designed it for finance ministers' meetings in the 1990s, Nigeria, governed by military dictators, was considered, but was thought to be too unstable.

Now, Mr. Jonathan has arrived in Toronto for the summits declaring Nigeria is ready to play a larger role on the world stage.

Wearing his trademark narrow-brimmed hat, the former vice-president who officially became president less than two months ago on the death of former president Umaru Yar'Adua, argues that the transfer of power, passing through a constitutional crisis to a man from a different language and religious background, is proof that his country is stable.

"That should tell the world that politically Nigeria is stable," he said. "From 1999, when the last military head of state handed over to the civilian government, Nigeria has been stable."

His country is still plagued by corruption and criminal gangs, however, and though Mr. Jonathan took power promising a new politics of anti-corruption and electoral reform, he faces skepticism inside his country and out.

"Nigeria's struggling. Every country has issues," he said. "If the purpose of these multilateral organizations is to improve the quality of life of society generally, then of course Nigeria is a good candidate for it."

Mr. Jonathan's official role is only at the G8, as one of seven African leaders invited for an "outreach" session on the continent.

The child and maternal-health initiative that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has championed is important to a critical problem in Nigeria, he said.

"These are issues to do with primary health care, not sophisticated health care. And if we can get health facilities across the various countries, it will significantly help."

But he added he will also bring a message to G8 leaders about delivering on pledges, such as the one made in Scotland in 2005 to double aid to Africa: "They promised $25-billion, but so far just about $11-billion has been given. And that's one of the areas they can mention to them - if they can give this. Canada has done very well. They have met their commitment. But others have not."

He argues that African countries were invited to the G8 in the first place out of recognition that they need to be encouraged, and a substantive place in the G20 will give them a chance to press that case in wider economic talks, such as liberalizing trade rules to reduce barriers that discourage African agricultural exports.

"As long as we are not encouraged to export our produce, then we will continue to be begging," he said. "And we should not be begging. We should be encouraged to produce."