South Africa, a regular guest at past G7 summits, said France has decided not to invite its leader to the upcoming G7 summit to be held in Evian-les-Bains in June, due to pressure from the U.S. South Africa also alleged that the U.S. had threatened to boycott the summit if its leader was invited.
“We’ve accepted the French decision and appreciate the pressure they’ve been subjected to,” said Vincent Magwenya, a spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
When asked at a briefing if South Africa had been left out due to the United States’ request, a French official responded that it had chosen to invite Kenya instead. In May, Macron is scheduled to travel to Kenya for a two-day summit between France and Africa.
The leaders of Brazil, Kenya, South Korea, India, and South Korea will attend the summit in Evian-les-Bains, France had previously stated.
In response to that French official’s question about whether U.S. President Donald Trump, whose use of tariff threats has alarmed both allies and adversaries—not to mention the global markets—will attend, he responded, “I won’t make any predictions, but if Trump doesn’t come, it also makes sense – it’s a new international reality and we need to organise ourselves accordingly.”
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah