When it assumed the presidency of the G20 last year, South Africa hoped that as the first African country to host the gathering of world leaders, it could champion issues that mattered the most to developing nations.
For instance, it wanted the 20 heads of state from the world's biggest economies to consider arguments that borrowing should be cheaper for developing countries, which pay two to four times more in interest on debts than more advanced economies.
Other themes of this weekend's summit include securing climate change financing, increasing the participation of African countries in multilateral forums and ensuring that they get the best value out of their critical minerals.
But so far, discourse surrounding the meeting has been dominated by Donald Trump's very public decision not to attend.
The US president said he would not go due to the widely discredited claim that South Africa's white minority is the victim of large-scale killings and land grabs.
