G7 - The African Mirror

May

21

2023

Ahead of financing summit, France lobbies G7 over Africa debt, climate impact

THE Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations need to take more responsibility in boosting crisis financing for vulnerable countries across the world and work with them to reform the post-war financing system, French officials said. France will host on June 22-23 the "Summit for a New Global Financial Pact", which will tackle the reform of multilateral development banks (MDB), the debt crisis, financing for green technologies, the creation of new international taxes and financing instruments, and special drawing rights. "It's urgent for us to act and rethink collectively the international financing architecture," a French presidential official said, adding that Paris…

Jun

14

2021

By The African Mirror

FACTBOX: China, climate and vaccines – what the G7 agreed this weekend

WORLD

THE Group of Seven rich nations promised to tackle China's growing influence, fight climate change, get more COVID-19 jabs to poor countries and keep up their economic stimulus programmes at their first summit since Joe Biden became U.S. president. Following is a summary of the main points agreed by the leaders of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada at their three-day meeting at a beachside hotel in southwest England which ended yesterday. CLIMATE CHANGE - The G7 said it would meet a long-overdue funding pledge of $100 billion a year by rich countries to help poorer…

Jun

14

2021

By The African Mirror

G7 calls for immediate cessation of hostilities in Tigray region

NEWS

THE Group of Seven wealthiest economies yesterday called for an immediate end to hostilities in Ethiopia's Tigray region. "We are deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region and reports of an unfolding major humanitarian tragedy," said a communique issued following a leaders' summit in Britain. "We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas and the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces." Fighting broke out in the region in November between government troops and the region's former ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Troops from neighbouring Eritrea also entered the conflict…

Jun

13

2021

By The African Mirror

G7 rivals China with grand infrastructure plan

WORLD

STEVE HOLLAND and GUY FAULCONBRIDGE THE Group of Seven richest democracies have sought to counter China's growing influence by offering developing nations an infrastructure plan that would rival President Xi Jinping's multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative. The G7, whose leaders are meeting in southwestern England and who discussed strategic competition with Beijing, has been searching for a coherent response to the growing assertiveness of Xi after China's surging economic and military rise over the past 40 years. U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders hope the plan, known as the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative, will provide a…

Jun

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Biden G7, NATO to-do list: unite allies, fight autocracy, attack COVID-19

WORLD

US President Joe Biden's meeting with leaders of the G7 leading industrial economies in an English seaside village this week will usher in a new focus on rallying U.S. allies against common adversaries - the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia and China. New COVID-19 variants and rising death tolls in some countries will loom large during the gathering from Friday to Sunday, alongside climate change, strengthening global supply chains and ensuring the West maintains its technological edge over China, the world's second-largest economy. Biden, a Democrat, vowed to rebuild relations with allies after four rocky years under former President Donald Trump, who…

May

18

2021

By The African Mirror

G7 urged to donate ’emergency’ supplies to vaccine-sharing scheme

COVID-19

EMMA FARGE THE head of UNICEF has asked G7 countries to donate supplies to the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme as an emergency measure to address a severe shortfall caused by disruption to Indian vaccine exports. India has curbed exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by its Serum Institute, which had been pledged to COVAX, to be used by the country as it battles a massive second wave of infections. U.N. agency UNICEF, which is in charge of supplying coronavirus vaccines through COVAX, estimates the supply shortfall at 140 million doses by the end of May and about 190 million by the…

May

03

2021

By The African Mirror

G7 to consider mechanism to counter Russian ‘propaganda’

WORLD

WILLIAM JAMES THE Group of Seven richest countries will look at a proposal to build a rapid response mechanism to counter Russian "propaganda" and disinformation, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Reuters. Speaking ahead of a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in London, the first such in-person meeting for two years, Raab said the United Kingdom was "getting the G7 to come together with a rapid rebuttal mechanism" to counter Russian misinformation. "So that when we see these lies and propaganda or fake news being put out there, we can - not just individually, but come together to provide a rebuttal…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

At Biden’s G7 debut, leaders look beyond COVID to trade and China

WORLD

WILLIAM JAMES and GUY FAULCONBRIDGE THE Group of Seven leaders, who control a little under half of the world's economy, on Friday sought to look beyond the COVID-19 pandemic towards rebuilding their battered economies with free trade and to countering China's "non-market oriented" policies. U.S. President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi debuted at the G7 virtual leaders' meeting which was chaired by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The leaders called for stronger defences against a future pandemic, including exploring a global health treaty, but the focus was on a green recovery - on the same day that…

Jul

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Germany rejects Trump’s proposal to let Russia back into G7 -foreign minister

WORLD

GERMANY has rejected a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the Group of Seven (G7) most advanced economies, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview. Trump raised the prospect last month of expanding the G7 to again include Russia, which had been expelled in 2014 following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. But Maas told Rheinische Post that he did not see any chance for allowing Russia back into the G7 as long as there was no meaningful progress in solving the conflict in Crimea as well as in…