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.

South Africa's rand firmed slightly in early trade on Thursday, recouping some of the previous session's losses as focus shifted from a delay in the national budget to the first meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Johannesburg.

Amid diplomatic tensions between host South Africa and the Trump Administration, the U.S. will be represented at a meeting of foreign ministers by the acting ambassador to South Africa.