Nigeria was conspicuously left out as The BRICS Group of developing nations comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, accepted the request to add Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as new member countries, in a move aimed at growing the clout of a bloc that has pledged to champion the “Global South”.
The new candidate members were announced on Thursday by South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, who is hosting the 15th BRICS summit of leaders.
“BRICS has embarked on a new chapter in its effort to build a world that is fair, a world that is just, a world that is also inclusive and prosperous,” he said.
This announcement follows ongoing debate among BRICS member nations to expand, even though the immediacy of such expansion remains debatable.
Expansion, it is believed, could pave the way for dozens of interested countries to seek admission to BRICS – currently Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – at a time when geopolitical polarisation is spurring efforts by Beijing and Moscow to forge it into a viable counterweight to the West.
The BRICS group accounts for more than 42% of the world population, 30% of the world’s territory, 23% of the global economy, and 18% of global trade. One of its founding values is a shared commitment to restructuring the global political, economic, and financial architecture to be fair, balanced, and representative, resting on pillars of multilateralism and international law.
The Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, is representing President Bola Tinubu at the summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The new candidates will be formally admitted as members on Jan. 1, 2024. Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left the door open to the possibility of admitting other new members in future.
