Cape Town Conversation 2025 arrives at a moment of heightened uncertainty but also renewed possibility. Anchored in South Africa’s G20 Presidency and its themes of solidarity, equality, and sustainability, this edition reflects a global juncture where challenges demand collective solutions. The African Union’s role in the G20 underscores the growing weight of the Global South as an indispensable partner in shaping governance and development. Against this backdrop, CTC 2025, which began under the Indian G20 presidency, offers a platform for fresh ideas, bold partnerships, and inclusive dialogue.
The world in 2025 faces increasing headwinds. Conflicts persist as multilateral institutions falter, trade wars unsettle economies, climate shocks intensify, and unregulated technologies disrupt politics and societies. For the Global South, development pathways are narrowing even as access to markets becomes more uncertain. The global order is shifting, and this has political, social, and economic ramifications for both the developed and the developing world.
Amid these challenges lie extraordinary opportunities for Africa and the world. Emerging technologies are unlocking new frontiers for growth, governance, and public goods delivery. The rapid evolution of AI, far from being only a contest of dominance, offers pathways to make economies more dynamic and societies more inclusive. India’s upcoming AI Impact Summit will further amplify this agenda, underlining the promise of the emerging techno-order if we get it right. At the same time, breakthroughs in food, health, and climate resilience hold the potential to drive a transformative shift — turning uncertainty into a foundation for shared progress.
South Africa’s G20 priorities — from debt sustainability and a just energy transition to disaster resilience, critical minerals for green industrialisation, and the African Continental Free Trade Area — capture both the urgency and the opportunity this moment presents. They also mirror the central purpose of Cape Town Conversation: to convene diverse voices, build coalitions, and shape collective responses that can withstand disruption while unlocking shared progress.
From advancing smart connectivity and logistics that link critical mineral hubs to global markets, to shaping energy transitions that balance growth with climate imperatives, to harnessing emerging technologies for the billions in the Global South, to rethinking international institutions that deliver outcomes over rhetoric — CTC 2025 is designed as a platform that looks beyond the perils of a fraying order toward pathways for building a more resilient and inclusive one.
From 24-26 November 2025, the Observer Research Foundation, India, and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, South Africa, together with key regional institutions and governments, will co-host a two-day global conference that will comprise five key thematic pillars.
It will be attended by diverse international participants, including representatives of governments, multilateral organisations, the private sector, and civil society. Each pillar will involve a mix of keynotes, panel discussions, and conversations with experts. The following section provides descriptions of the sessions.
The next phase of globalisation will be defined not only by what we trade, but by the systems that connect and undergird that trade. From Latin America to Africa to Asia, investments in shipping routes, digital infrastructure, and green corridors will shape future growth and determine whether it is equitable. From hardware to software, the manufacturing landscape of tomorrow will hinge on critical minerals and rare earths, making it essential to decide how these resources are harnessed, how processing capacities are built, how supply chains are strengthened for resilience, and how markets are connected. With some of the world’s fastest-growing cities, strengthening multi-modal connectivity to and across Africa is vital not only for the continent’s prosperity but for global growth itself.
Achieving this transformation will require new financing models at a time when traditional development assistance is in decline. Blended finance, risk-sharing mechanisms, and the resources of plurilateral platforms such as BRICS and its New Development Bank will be critical. In an era of fractured supply chains and recurring geopolitical shocks, building connectivity that is more agile and shock-resistant is essential if the Global South is to emerge as a driver of a fairer, more resilient global economy. This pillar explores how investments in connectivity, infrastructure and
logistics can fundamentally rewire the global economy to make it more fair — and in turn, also reshaping political dynamics attached to it.
The green transition will be the defining challenge of the 21st century, particularly for the Global South. These countries must balance rapid economic growth, emission reductions, and investments in clean energy and infrastructure—all while often lacking adequate state and technical capacity—making the task truly Herculean. Global poverty cannot be the world’s mitigation strategy; transitions must be sequenced for resilience and designed to create decent work.
This pillar looks at how the developing world can turn the green transition into a driver of growth and resilience. From coastal protection and urban resilience to regenerative agriculture, clean grids, storage, and blue economy opportunities, new clean-energy technologies are making once-distant ambitions feasible. The focus is on adaptation as much as mitigation — ensuring that growth strategies create jobs, strengthen communities, and build resilience to climate shocks. Equally important is how critical minerals are harnessed: supply chains must be transparent, ethical, and value-adding, so that local communities benefit alongside global industries. Central to this is mobilising financing for mitigation and adaptation through innovative instruments. The goal is to position the wider Global South not as a passive actor in the climate story, but as a pioneer of climate-smart growth models that are innovative, inclusive, and scalable across regions.
Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are reshaping economies, supply chains, governance, and culture. India hosting the AI Impact Summit in 2026, signals the urgency of shaping a techno-order that reflects the realities of the developing world. For emerging markets, this wave of innovation offers a chance to leapfrog — boosting productivity, creating jobs, transforming education and health outcomes, and integrating industries more deeply into global supply chains. Yet, it will also result in some unforeseen outcomes for skilled and semi-skilled labour, and mitigating them will be crucial for governments.
AI-based use-cases can also help governments deliver public goods more effectively, from smarter agriculture to real-time monitoring of welfare schemes. India’s success with digital public infrastructure (DPI) offers a practical blueprint: India Stack has inspired pilots in Morocco, Mauritius, and Ethiopia, while the India–Africa Digital Partnership is helping expand digital ID and payments systems tailored to local contexts. These efforts demonstrate how the Global South can not only adopt frontier technologies but also shape governance frameworks and innovation models that serve their developmental priorities. Meanwhile, the rise of the globalised creator economy opens new opportunities for developing countries to localise and monetise their creative industries, ensuring digital transformation produces not only consumers but also innovators, owners, and storytellers. This pillar examines how the Global South can harness AI, digital infrastructure, and creative economies to drive inclusive growth, build resilience, and actively shape the emerging techno-order.
The global order is fraying under the strain of intensifying conflicts, the weaponisation of economic relations, and the declining effectiveness of key institutions. Rising uncertainty is making states hesitant to commit to long-term partnerships, weakening collaboration at a moment when it is most needed. Multilateral bodies such as the UN Security Council and the WTO are struggling to arbitrate disputes or provide stability. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the G20 has served as a forum for collective action, yet its centrality is increasingly in question — not least as some of its own architects choose to bypass it. Meanwhile, BRICS, with growing engagement from African countries, is emerging as a platform of coordination among diverse powers.
This pillar will interrogate the crisis of the current order and critically assess the ability of multilateral and plurilateral groupings to navigate this unsettled moment. It will explore how such institutions can uphold a measure of economic stability, minimise disputes, and provide platforms for cooperation even as larger power rivalries intensify. Equally, it will consider how neutral states — particularly those in the Global South that prioritise developmental outcomes — can safeguard their interests, avoid becoming strategic collateral in great-power competition, and leverage collective forums to advance a more balanced and durable international order.
The Global South carries the largest share of global poverty, with Africa alone home to over half of the world’s extreme poor, and most SDG targets remain off track for 2030. The financing gap is vast, but examples across regions show what is possible — from Botswana’s near-eradication of childhood HIV and solar micro-grids in Mali to Brazil’s conditional cash transfers that lifted millions from poverty.
This pillar will explore how countries can drive SDG progress through scalable, community-led solutions, innovative partnerships, and integrated approaches to food, climate, and health security. Breakthroughs such as climate-resilient crops, preventive healthcare, and clean energy access demonstrate how development goals can be turned into tangible outcomes.
Initiatives like Mission 300 to electrify 300 million Africans, the African Adaptation Acceleration Programme, and India’s digital tools for inclusion highlight the potential of scale, innovation, and cooperation. The aim is to transform ambition into measurable progress and empower the Global South to lead with models of growth that are inclusive, resilient, and future-ready.