President Cyril Ramaphosa received the G20 Extraordinary Committee Report on Global Inequality at a ceremony in Cape Town on 4 November 2025. The report, presented by Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, and four other independent experts, highlights the deepening global inequality crisis and advocates for a bold restructuring of international economic governance.
Commissioned as part of South Africa’s G20 presidency under the theme Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability, the report synthesises findings from global economic data, including contributions from the World Inequality Lab, and provides a comprehensive assessment of trends in wealth distribution from 2000 to 2024. Among its most stark conclusions, the report reveals that the top one percent of the global population has captured 41 percent of all new wealth generated in this period. In contrast, the poorest half of the world’s population gained only 585 US dollars per capita, adjusted for inflation, while the wealthiest one percent saw average increases of 1.3 million US dollars.
The report further indicates that 83 percent of countries, accounting for 90 percent of the global population, now meet the World Bank’s threshold for “high inequality.” These countries, the report notes, are seven times more likely to experience democratic backsliding, a statistic that resonates with current global governance challenges.
During the presentation, Professor Stiglitz emphasised that inequality is not a consequence of natural economic forces but rather a product of human-made systems. He attributed the concentration of wealth at the top to structural features such as monopoly power, deregulated markets, and the weakening of labour protections. “We recognise the climate emergency globally. It is time we treat inequality as an equally pressing emergency,” Stiglitz said.
The report’s release comes at a critical juncture. In light of increasing geopolitical tensions, fiscal fragmentation, and escalating climate-related risks, the Committee has called for the establishment of a new international body to advise on equitable policy frameworks at both national and multilateral levels. Key recommendations include a reconfiguration of global tax and trade rules to curb evasion and ensure equitable contributions by multinational corporations and the ultra-wealthy, as well as national reforms to bolster worker protections, curtail corporate concentration, and invest robustly in public services.
President Ramaphosa confirmed that the report has already been submitted to the United Nations and will be formally presented at the upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit later this month. In his remarks, he underscored the historical significance of the report: “This is the first occasion a document of this kind, on an issue so central to global equity and sustainable development, is brought to the G20 table.”
The report adopts a global lens but does not obscure the continuing wealth divide between the Global North and the Global South. While global income inequality between individuals has shown signs of narrowing—largely due to economic growth in countries such as China—the disparities in wealth between regions remain stark. For many African nations, whose economies have been shaped by colonial legacies and contemporary structural constraints, this imbalance highlights the need for a new global consensus on fair economic participation.
In line with this, the report’s framing moves beyond Western-centric narratives of development. It calls for a reframing of economic progress to centre human well-being, social justice, and sustainability, aligning with pan-African priorities for equitable growth. The inclusion of diverse African voices on the committee, including Winnie Byanyima’s long-standing advocacy for gender and economic justice, reflects a commitment to reshaping global economic discourse from the peripheries inward.
Rather than presenting Africa as a site of perpetual crisis, the report positions the continent as a key actor in the articulation of global solutions. It challenges reductive framings and seeks to elevate a multidimensional understanding of inequality that recognises history, structure, and power.
As global leaders prepare to convene, South Africa’s presidency of the G20 may offer a rare moment of recalibration. The report not only amplifies the urgency of addressing inequality but also repositions African leadership in global economic governance, not as a recipient of reform but as a driver of equitable transformation.
