South African youth lead the charge for change at the Y20 Summit

I still remember stepping into the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni, my exhibitor badge swinging around my neck, and thinking, this is history in the making. For the first time ever, the Y20 Summit, the official G20 youth engagement platform is on African soil. And there I was, not just watching from the sidelines, but right in the middle of it.

The theme said it all: “Uniting for Solidarity, Championing Equality, Driving Sustainability.” But what really struck me was how the words leapt off the banners and into real conversations. Young people from across the globe weren’t just repeating policy talk; they were rolling up their sleeves and saying, this is what we’re building, this is how we’re changing things.

From my corner in the exhibition space, I watched it unfold like a marketplace of ideas. South African entrepreneurs, innovators, and dreamers were on full display. Their tables covered with solutions that screamed resilience and creativity. What started as polite networking turned into animated collaborations. People were exchanging contacts, sketching ideas on serviettes, and already plotting joint ventures across borders. You could feel it: the future wasn’t being discussed, it was being designed, right there on the floor.

The summit revolved around five policy tracks, namely; climate change, inclusive economic transformation, digital innovation and AI, multilateralism, and social cohesion. Big words, right? But they weren’t distant concepts. I saw them come alive in the work of every young founder I spoke to. From the eco-friendly startup tackling waste, to the digital platform bridging rural communities, and the social projects knitting fractured societies back together. Each stall was a story of survival, grit, and possibility.

Then came cultural immersion day, and Wow! what a reminder of where we come from. One minute, we were experimenting with tech at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre; the next, standing at Constitution Hill, soaking in the weight of our history. That duality hit me: to build the future, we must honour the past.

What also excited me was the collaboration between Y20 and Startup20 (SU20) - the G20 arm dedicated to startups and entrepreneurship. As someone deeply rooted in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, that overlap felt like an invitation. It said: your hustle matters at policy level; your innovation belongs in the global conversation.

By the time the summit closed, I wasn’t thinking of it as just another event. It felt like a launchpad. The stages may have been dismantled, but the conversations were already spilling into WhatsApp groups, Zoom calls, and joint projects.

Here’s the thing: the youth are done waiting. They’re not asking to be included. They’re already leading, even so, boldly, creatively, and unapologetically. And if Ekurhuleni was any indication, the world better keep up.

Because the next big shift? It won’t be whispered. It will roar, and I mean it will be roaring in the voice of the youth.

Tsakani Nkombyane, Programme Officer at 22 On Sloane.

*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.

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