The BRICS group of emerging economies has invited six countries – Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to become new members of the bloc from Jan. 1, 2024, the president announced on Thursday, according to Africans , Cyril Ramaphosa. The decision was made during the meeting that the current members of this group – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – held in Johannesburg from Tuesday to Thursday. “With this summit, the BRICS are opening a new chapter,” added Ramaphosa. The enlargement debate has been intense and more than 30 countries have expressed interest in joining this club, founded in 2006.
There was consensus on the decision to add new countries to the group of the world’s leading emerging markets. However, the five leaders disagreed on how many countries would join and how quickly. The summit served to establish “the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the expansion process,” said the South African President at a press conference, accompanied by the Indian Prime Minister, the Presidents of Brazil and China, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Russian Sergei Lavrov, da Vladimir Putin did not attend the summit for fear of being arrested for war crimes in Ukraine.
In a video conference, the Russian head of state highlighted the efforts of the five countries to find a formula that was accepted by all. “I would like to call for further expansion of the BRICS countries worldwide. “We will set the procedures to keep growing,” Putin assured. For his part, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated South Africa on the success of the summit. “India has always believed in expanding the BRICS because we need to give it new impetus. We maintain old ties with all new members. “The growth and modernization of the BRICS show us that all global institutions should change over time,” Modi said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also welcomed the new members of the group and congratulated the participants on the agreement. “This expansion is historic, it shows our unity and meets the demands of a growing world. I am sure that if we work together and pursue a common interest, we will achieve greater successes,” he said. The last time the BRICS grew was in 2011 when South Africa joined a group formerly called the BRICs. The five countries that make up this club are home to 40% of the world’s population and about a quarter of the planet’s gross domestic product.
The aim of this expansion is to give non-Western countries a greater voice and to create a counterweight to the forums of Western-led countries such as the G-7 or the G-20 in the international order. The leaders of the BRICS group insist that their intention is not to compete, but rather to bring diversity to an increasingly complex yet polarized world. But within the group there were different views. China wanted to speed up the expansion process and South Africa had become a supporter of the accession of other African countries.
The reaction of the six invited countries was not long in coming. Argentine President Alberto Fernández stressed the group’s “unique relevance” as a “geopolitical and financial benchmark”, recalling that this bloc handles 30% of its exports. For his part, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Frahan, told Al Arabiya TV on Thursday that the kingdom welcomed the BRICS invitation and would consider the details ahead of the proposed January 1 accession date, according to Portal reports “the appropriate decision”. meet. Faisal bin Frahan added that the BRICS are “a useful and important channel” for strengthening economic cooperation.
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Countries that had submitted their candidacy but are not currently admitted to the BRICS include Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba and Vietnam. In addition, Mexico, Pakistan and Turkey, among others, had expressed their interest, but without making a formal request.
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