Former President of the Republic Dilma Rousseff was elected President of the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as Banco do Brics, this Friday (24). She replaces Marcos Troyjo, former special secretary of the former Economy Ministry, who has held the post since July 2020.
Dilma will head the FIS until July 2025, when Brazil’s tenure at the helm of the financial institution, headquartered in Shanghai, China, ends. An official inauguration ceremony for Dilma is scheduled for late next week during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s trip to China.
Headquarters of the NDB (Banco do Brics), commanded by former President Dilma Rousseff Portal/Bai Kelin/Rights Reserved
Although the bank announced the replacement of Troyjo by Dilma on the last 10th, the election to the bank’s board of directors only took place this Friday. Each BRICS country Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa takes turns managing the bank for five years.
“As President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff has focused her agenda on ensuring the country’s economic stability and job creation. In addition, the fight against poverty was a priority during his government, and the social programs initiated under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were expanded and internationally recognised. As a result of one of the most comprehensive poverty reduction processes in the country’s history, Brazil was removed from the United Nations’ hunger map,” stressed the FIS in a statement.
The communiqué also recalled that during her government, Dilma promoted respect for countries’ sovereignty and the defense of multilateralism, sustainable development, human rights and peace. The text highlighted that the former President has expanded cooperation with several countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, helped found the FIS in 2014 and played a key role in the Paris Environmental Agreement in 2015.
challenges
According to experts from the Agency for BrazilBanco do Brics’ future president will have the opportunity to expand the institution’s international presence, but faces two major challenges: promoting environmentallyrelated projects and sidestepping the geopolitical ramifications of Western retaliation against Russia, one of the founding partners.
The NDB was formed in December 2014 to expand infrastructure and sustainable development project financing in the Brics and other emerging markets and currently has approximately $32 billion in approved projects. Of this, around US$ 4 billion will be invested in Brazil, mainly in highway and port projects.
In 2021, the following countries joined the Bank of Brics: Bangladesh, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.