ATTENTION: NEWS EDITORS
Media Release
For immediate release
Sunday, 23 November 2025
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) joins the global community in congratulating the South African government on hosting a successful G20 Summit – the first such event to be hosted on African soil. The historic summit, held in Johannesburg, brought together world leaders with a mission to tackle socio-economic issues, including crisis related to climate change. It also aimed to drive global economic growth, among other objectives.
The declarations from the Summit were adopted without objection by all the members.On Sunday (23 November 2025), President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed the declarations from the Group of 20 summit as a turning point, saying they reflected a “renewed commitment to multilateral cooperation”.
The G20 Leaders’ Declaration and the Research and Innovation outcomes, including the Tshwane Package, place science, technology and inclusive innovation at the centre of a global agenda. This aligns closely with UJ’s Strategic Plan 2035 and its mission to drive research and innovation for societal impact and sustainability.
Earlier last the week, UJ Chancellor Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who was serving as the Convenor of the G20 Social Summit, made a clarion call to Africa to take the lead in its development. This, she said, was because Africa’s struggles are rooted in poor leadership. “Africa is not poor. It has more than 50% of the world’s arable land so we shouldn’t be having poverty and hunger…” said Mlambo-Ngcuka, addressing the G20 Social Summit opening ceremony in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.
“We should be able to industrialise because we have 30% of the world’s critical minerals. If Africa is not doing well, it is because we are not providing leadership… If Africa is not doing well, it is because we are not providing leadership.”
Mlambo-Ngcuka urged African leaders to use the G20 as a platform to influence decisions so that it should have value by including the lived experiences of ordinary people. “How will we ensure that what we have decided here is not lost along the way, just in case next year is not so cool?” She reminded delegates that this was only the second time a social summit was convened as part of a G20 programme after being initiated by Brazil in 2024.
The G20 Leaders’ Declaration placed climate action, renewable energy expansion, debt relief for developing nations and inclusive industrial transformation at the centre of the global agenda. Alongside this, the Research and Innovation track delivered the Tshwane Package, a landmark set of measures that advances open innovation, biodiversity data cooperation and the scientific capacity of developing countries.
For UJ, these outcomes are not abstract international commitments. They affirm and accelerate the University’s long-standing focus on open science, regional partnerships and innovation ecosystems, and they create a clear mandate to convert global diplomacy into local development.
The combined priorities of the Leaders’ Declaration and the Tshwane Package, which include knowledge transfer, climate resilience, digital transformation and capacity-building across the Global South, align directly with UJ’s Strategic Plan 2035, reinforcing the University’s position as one of Africa’s leading institutions in research and innovation for societal impact and sustainability.
UJ’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Letlhokwa George Mpedi, said the summit marked a pivotal moment for both the continent and the Institution. “The G20 has created an invaluable opportunity to align global priorities with African-led solutions. At UJ, we will intensify our use of research excellence and innovation platforms such as the UniPod to convert these commitments into jobs, green technologies and open science that directly benefit our communities. This is a moment for African universities not only to participate, but to lead, to partner and to deliver measurable value for society.”
Last week, UJ showed a concrete commitment in this field with the launch of the UniPod, a cutting-edge innovation and technology hub on the Auckland Park campus. Supported by the United Nations Development Programme, the UniPod equips students, researchers and entrepreneurs with world-class facilities in artificial intelligence, robotics, rapid prototyping and business incubation. It embeds UJ in a pan-African innovation network and provides young innovators with the infrastructure, mentorship and market pathways needed to scale solutions that respond to continental and global priorities.
Additionally, UJ is set to co-host the Globelics International Conference 2025, an event which brings together leading scholars, policymakers and innovation-system thinkers only days after the G20 Summit.
ENDS
Issued by:
Herman Esterhuizen
Media Relations
University of Johannesburg
Tel: +27 11 559-6653
