Newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer has arrived in Johannesburg for the G20 summit, using his first major international gathering to act as a “global ambassador” for UK businesses, even as the event is overshadowed by Donald Trump’s boycott over widely disputed claims of white persecution in South Africa.
Ahead of the formal summit, Starmer will visit a Johannesburg train depot to showcase rolling stock built in Derby and announce a new consultancy deal. Through the government-owned Crossrail International, the UK will provide strategic advice to modernize South Africa’s railways, building on a similar recent agreement with Vietnam.
Downing Street is framing the engagement with Africa as a critical economic priority. A spokesperson highlighted the continent’s “unparalleled future opportunities,” noting its overwhelmingly young population and projection that over a quarter of the world will live in Africa by 2050.
“If you want to deal with the cost of living and make people better off with good secure jobs, investment from G20 partners and allies is really important,” Starmer told reporters en route to South Africa, directly countering domestic critics who have labelled him “never here Keir.”
The summit’s dynamics were shifted by the absence of former US President Trump, who decried the event as a “total disgrace” on social media and repeated his unsubstantiated claim that white South Africans face persecution. In contrast, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed the boycott, stating the US absence was “their loss” and that “boycott politics doesn’t work.” No major political party in South Africa, including those representing the white minority, has endorsed Trump’s genocide claims.
By James Kisoo
