"Too bad for them," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responded on Wednesday to television stations that questioned him about the United States' boycott of the G20 summit on November 22 and 23 in Johannesburg, which Argentine President Javier Milei will also not attend.

US President Donald Trump announced last week that he would not send any representatives from his administration to this annual gathering of the world's largest economies, once again making unfounded accusations against Pretoria of persecuting white farmers.

Following in the footsteps of his American ally and financial backer, Javier Milei will also not participate in this first G20 summit on the African continent, where he will be represented by his foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, a spokesman for the Argentine presidency told AFP.

"The United States, by not participating in the G20, should not imagine that the G20 will not take place. The G20 will take place as planned. Other heads of state will be present. In the end, essential decisions will be made and if they are not there, too bad for them," said Cyril Ramaphosa.

His country has been one of Donald Trump's prime targets on the international stage since his return to the White House in January.

"What I can say, from my experience in politics, is that boycotts never really work. They have the opposite effect," also warned the South African president, who is due to hand over the rotating G20 presidency to the United States.

- "Decisions will be made" -

Pretoria's theme for its presidency, "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability," focuses primarily on debt relief for developing countries, financing adaptation to climate change, and ensuring growth benefits the greatest number of people. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio deemed it "anti-American."

"Decisions will be made to move the various issues forward. Our priorities will be defined; for example, the question of the cost of capital will be the subject of a consensus," assured Cyril Ramaphosa. "The United States must reconsider the actual effectiveness of the boycott policy, because in my experience, it doesn't work. It's better to be inside the tent than outside," he added.

In its crusade against South Africa, the American government notably organized the reception of Afrikaners whom it considered refugees. These descendants of the first European settlers were the minority from which the leaders of the apartheid regime came.

Pretoria is also in the crosshairs of the Trump administration for its genocide complaint against Israel before the International Court of Justice for its war in Gaza.

The largest economy on the African continent is subject to the highest US tariffs in sub-Saharan Africa (30%).

The Argentine government did not specify the reasons for the presidential absence, although Milei has repeatedly expressed his diplomatic alignment with the United States and Donald Trump.

They have offered a currency swap agreement worth up to $20 billion to support the Argentine peso. They are also working with private actors, banks, and sovereign wealth funds on a new $20 billion support package for the Argentine economy.

The White House tenant had conditioned these subsidies on the victory of his protégé in the midterm legislative elections at the end of October, which were indeed won by Javier Milei.