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.