| Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. South Africa had high hopes that it could better the lot of the developing world when it took over the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 nations late last year. But President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ambitions of getting the group to agree on the need to prioritize debt relief, climate finance and the reform of international financial institutions have been torpedoed by his American counterpart, Donald Trump. Attention is firmly focused on limiting the fallout of a global trade war.  Ramaphosa addresses a G-20 meeting in Cape Town on Feb. 26. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg A meeting of G-20 finance ministers at a resort on South Africa’s east coast this week will be notable for the absence of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, just as it was at the last one in February. Washington has boycotted almost all the group’s events this year, an expression of its disdain for South Africa’s proposed agenda that aims to promote solidarity, equality and sustainability. It’s questionable whether Trump would have been as dismissive of the gatherings had the host been a more powerful nation. Trump only respects strength, “has a proclivity for what he considers ‘big countries’ and enjoys belligerent leaders,” said Louw Nel, an analyst at Oxford Economics Africa. “South Africa satisfies neither of those conditions and Africa as a region is perceived as weak and irrelevant beyond the resources it can provide.” While Pretoria could theoretically try and persuade other G-20 members to coordinate their efforts to counter the threats posed by the US, it’s unlikely to take any action that antagonizes Trump or further sours relations with its second-largest trading partner. A more likely scenario is that discussions will center around issues on which consensus can be reached, such as the need to fire up the global economy and promote fiscal stability. Either way, Ramaphosa will do his utmost to keep the G-20 relevant and convince Trump to attend a summit in Johannesburg in November when South Africa is due to hand over the presidency of the bloc to the US. Failure will reflect a lost opportunity for Africa’s first leadership of the group of the world's biggest economies. — Antony Sguazzin Key stories and opinion:
G-20 Agenda Eclipsed as Bessent Skips South Africa Meeting Again
Trump Tariff Salvos Push Economies to Seek to Broaden Trade Ties
South Africa Aims to Forge G-20 Accord Despite US Enmity
America’s Africa Policy Is Clear. Success Isn’t: Justice Malala
Where Does President Trump’s Tariff Campaign Stand?: QuickTake In memoriam: Muhammadu Buhari, a former Nigerian military ruler who went on to become the nation’s first opposition candidate to win a presidential election, has died. He was 82. An arbitration decision describes Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler’s testimony about how he won the rights to tap natural resources in Democratic Republic of Congo and made previously undisclosed payments to one of the former president’s associates. The non-public decision seen by Bloomberg revolves around a dispute between Gertler and two former investors. The testimony also describes how the businessman made loans to the country and held assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of Congolese partners.  Gertler in Congo in 2012. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg Tullow Oil and Gulf Energy secured a six-month extension to submit a development plan for crude deposits in Kenya, a crucial step to completing the disposal of the assets. Tullow agreed to sell the deposits to Gulf, a Nairobi-based trading firm, in April after struggling for more than a decade to bring them on stream. The $120 million deal was welcomed by investors eager to see Tullow reduce its debt, but it’s dependent on the submission of a plan to get the oil flowing. Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, has applied to start constructing a seaport near his fertilizer plant and oil refinery to make it easier to export liquefied natural gas and other products — and support the growth of his industrial empire. The plan “to build the biggest, deepest port in Nigeria” took wings after he sent in the paperwork for permission in late June, Dangote told us in an interview. The proposed facility in Ogun state lies about 100 kilometers by road from the billionaire’s biggest production facilities in Lagos.
 The Dangote refinery. Photographer: Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg S&P cut Senegal’s credit assessment further into junk, citing the West African nation’s rising debt burden. The rating on the long-term foreign currency debt was downgraded to B-, the lowest since the company first assessed the sovereign in 2000. An audit commissioned by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s government found that the previous administration had misreported state debt. Senegal’s dollar bonds meanwhile rallied after the finance ministry said a recalculation of economic data could improve debt ratios. Ramaphosa suspended South African Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and will set up an inquiry to probe accusations that he tried to quash an investigation into political assassinations. The president had been under intense pressure to act after a senior police officer made the explosive allegations against Mchunu. The furor has highlighted concerns that the government isn’t doing enough to root out criminality.  Mchunu. Photographer: Christian Velcich/Getty Images The International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group, agreed to provide development financing for a transmission line to strengthen Mozambique’s electricity grid. British International Investment’s Gridworks Development Partners and state-owned Electricidade de Moçambique are setting up the $400 million Chimuara-Nacala line, the first privately financed transmission project in the southern African nation. Thank you for your responses to our weekly Next Africa Quiz and congratulations to Ebrima Sawaneh who was first to identify Gambia as the West African nation where lawmakers rejected a change to the constitution that would have allowed its president to stand for two more terms. Nigerian stocks hit a record high as the nation’s economic outlook improves. The Nigerian all-share index rose for nine straight days, taking its local-currency returns to 27% in the past 52 weeks. That’s double the increase in the MSCI Emerging Markets Europe, Middle East and Africa Index. Local tax reforms and the recent stability of the naira have helped shore up investor confidence, said Kato Mukuru, CEO of Emerging and Frontier Capital. Thanks for reading. We’ll be back in your inbox with the next edition on Friday. Send any feedback to mcohen21@bloomberg.net | 
