Short answers, pulled from the story.
The G20 held its inaugural meeting in Berlin during December 1999. This forum emerged from discussions by Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin and US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers following financial crises in Mexico and Long-Term Capital Management.
The African Union became the twenty-first member of the G20 at the 2023 New Delhi summit. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this inclusion which brought total membership to twenty-one entities including nineteen sovereign countries plus the European Union and the African Union.
G20 members collectively account for approximately eighty-five percent of gross world product and seventy-five percent of international trade. These figures demonstrate why the group holds significant sway over global economic policy despite lacking enforcement powers.
The Debt Service Suspension Initiative suspended repayments for seventy-three of the poorest debtor nations. This program was part of broader efforts to rebuild the financial system after leaders pledged trillions of dollars to institutions like the World Bank and IMF during the November 2008 summit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to the assembly as the 'G19' to emphasize the exclusion of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. Vladimir Putin did not attend the 2022 summit in person citing an ICC arrest warrant issued later in 2024.