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Pretoria - South Africa is worried about the impact the Ebola outbreak could have on economic growth in Africa, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on Tuesday.
"We are indeed concerned, it is for that reason... that we actually led the inclusion of matters that relate to Ebola at the G20 level," Nene told reporters in Pretoria.
Leaders from the G20 group of nations met over the weekend and part of their discussions included practical measures of tackling Ebola.
"We understand that it's not just an economic matter but a humanitarian matter as well. These [affected countries] are our trade partners. We do need to have multilateral institutions and engagements."
He said discussions on Ebola attracted "encouraging" concern from all parties.
"We have seen that at times the distance doesn't make much difference before you have it in your own country. The United States and Spain ended up having Ebola cases because of the inter-connectedness of the world," said Nene.
"We have seen philanthropists, even from our own country, not only speaking about it but putting in financial resources to ensure that those West African countries are assisted to contain Ebola."
Nene said the leaders of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (Brics) grouping met on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
"Brics leaders exchanged views on the G20 summit agenda as well as how to support additional measures of addressing the Ebola epidemic," he said.
President Jacob Zuma led the South African delegation to the summit, which took place on November 15 and 16.
Zuma was accompanied by Nene and International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.
