South Africa is the first African state to lead the G20, hoping to advance the interests of developing nations in talks with the world's richest states. The G20 consists of 19 countries, along with the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU), and makes up more than 80% of the global economy and two-thirds of the world population.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will skip a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the leading rich and developing nations that starts on Thursday after criticizing host South Africa’s policies as anti-American.

Rubio said he would also be skipping the main G20 summit in Johannesburg later this year due to South Africa's "DEI and climate change" frameworks