BRICS to double membership with addition of Saudi Arabia, Iran, others
The BRICS group, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is set to double its membership with the addition of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt on January 1, 2024.
This announcement was made by South Africa’s envoy to the bloc, Anil Sooklal.
The group initially invited six more nations in August, but Argentina declined the invitation after President Javier Milei took office.
The five invitees sent senior-level representatives to a BRICS sherpa meeting in Durban, South Africa, earlier this month and they fully participated in the gathering, “a clear indication that they have accepted the invitation” to join, Anil Sooklal, Pretoria’s ambassador to the bloc stated, Bloomberg reported.
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The new members will also send officials to a sherpa meeting in Moscow on Jan. 30, he said.
About 30 countries want to establish ties with the bloc. Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar said in November that Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, will seek to become a member of BRICS within the next two years.
It is believed that Nigeria has not yet joined because of its long-standing strong ties with the West.
The BRICS group has been aggressively pushing to change the order of the globe’s economic structure. The group’s primary intention is to dominate the global market by increasing its economic influence.
Collectively, the BRICS countries represent 42% of the world’s population, 30% of its landmass, and 24% of its economic output.
However, except for India, the BRICS have underperformed their emerging-market peers over the past five years due to US-led sanctions against Russia and China’s technology sector.
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