PM Modi calls for global reset at Africa G20 summit with big push on knowledge skills and security

At the first G20 Summit ever hosted on African soil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the proceedings with a sweeping call for a reimagining of global development priorities — one rooted in inclusivity, sustainability and civilizational wisdom rather than extractive growth.

Speaking at the opening session titled “Inclusive and sustainable economic growth leaving no one behind” in Johannesburg, Modi argued that the current frameworks of evaluating prosperity fail regions that have historically suffered resource deprivation and ecological imbalance. Africa’s moment at the G20, he said, must serve as a global “course correction.”

Modi outlined three major initiatives that India is placing on the table to reshape cooperation across continents — from preserving humanity’s ancient knowledge systems to powering Africa’s youth and countering the rising nexus between narcotics and terrorism.

A global archive to preserve traditional wisdom

Modi’s first proposal — the Global Traditional Knowledge Repository — seeks to document and share time-tested cultural, environmental and medicinal practices from communities worldwide.
He said India’s own Indian Knowledge Systems initiative could serve as the foundation for a platform that protects and disseminates heritage models of sustainable living at a time when climate stress and disrupted lifestyles threaten to erase them.

A G20–Africa skills revolution

Underscoring that Africa’s rise is essential to global progress, the Prime Minister announced the G20–Africa Skills Multiplier Initiative, designed to unlock the power of the continent’s demographic dividend.

Built on a train-the-trainer model and supported jointly by all G20 nations, the initiative aims to create one million certified trainers in Africa within the next decade — who will go on to skill millions more across sectors. Modi linked the initiative to India’s continued partnership with Africa, recalling that it was during India’s G20 Presidency that the African Union joined the grouping as a permanent member.

Uniting against the drug–terror economy

Modi also sounded a sharp warning on the global spread of high-potency synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, calling them a threat not only to public health but to social stability and national security.

He urged the formation of a G20 Initiative on Countering the Drug–Terror Nexus, bringing together financial, governance and security mechanisms to dismantle trafficking networks, choke illicit money flows and cut off a major source of funding to terror groups.