The 2025 G20 Leaders’ Declaration is ambitious, wide-ranging and, in parts, impressively detailed. It tackles climate finance, illicit financial flows, digital infrastructure, food security, AI governance and debt sustainability.
Yet, after combing through the 30-page document, one striking omission stands out: ethical leadership – the single factor on which every stated commitment ultimately relies – is barely mentioned.
The word leadership appears only seven times, mostly as ceremonial acknowledgement of presidencies and task forces, and ethical leadership is not mentioned at all. This absence is not trivial.
Policies do not implement themselves; institutions do not reform themselves; and global collaboration does not sustain itself without leadership capable of stewarding change.
This is especially concerning for Africa, whose developmental gains hinge not only on financing and cooperation, but on leadership that governs with integrity, courage and accountability.
Governance scholar Prof Bageshree Varma reminds us that “institutions are only as ethical as the leaders who run them”.
Similarly, former South African Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has consistently argued that “ethical leadership is the lifeblood of good governance; without it, systems decay regardless of how well designed they are”.
The Declaration calls for trillions in climate finance, deeper social protection, disciplined debt management and coordinated digital governance.
But who will lead these processes? What values will guide them? What mechanisms will ensure that leadership failures – so often the Achilles’ heel of global declarations – do not undermine progress?
African public governance and development expert, Dr Carlos Lopes has long warned that “Africa does not suffer from a shortage of visions, but from a shortage of implementation – and implementation is a leadership function”.
This is the gap the G20 must confront. In a world marked by geopolitical fragmentation, rising inequalities and collapsing trust in institutions, strong but ethical leadership is not optional – it is foundational. Without explicitly elevating leadership development, accountability, and integrity, even the best-crafted agreements risk becoming aspirational documents with limited traction on the ground.
US President Donald Trump’s actions have shown us how disruptive unethical leadership can be. His example, and that of many of our own leaders, underline the crucial importance of focusing on this issue.
As Africa takes on greater prominence within the G20 system, this gap becomes more urgent. The continent needs leaders who resist extractive politics, steward public resources responsibly and champion governance systems that outlive political cycles.
Therefore, this declaration should have done more than acknowledge leadership in passing – it should have placed it at the centre of implementation.
If the world expects sustainable action on climate adaptation, debt sustainability, digital equity or illicit financial flows, then it must invest in cultivating, supporting and demanding ethical leaders who take governance seriously.
Africa, especially, cannot afford a global agenda that assumes leadership capacity rather than intentionally strengthening it.
The G20 should recognise that ethical leadership is the engine that powers every agreement it signs.
Until leadership itself becomes a pillar of global commitments, implementation will remain the weakest link.
Lonwabo Patrick Kulati is the chief executive of Good Governance Africa’s Southern African regional office
Ethical leadership is the lifeblood of good governance; without it, systems decay regardless of how well designed they are
