The BRICS bloc, a group containing Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has decided to extend official invitations to six new countries to join the group as full members from January, 2024.
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also chair of the bloc, made the statement while announcing the outcomes from the 15th BRICS summit in a media briefing.
The summit held at the Sandton Convention Centre in the country’s capital Johannesburg from Tuesday, August 22 to Thursday, August 24.
The expansion, which was much anticipated, was announced at the end of the BRICS summit which held in South Africa as more countries continue to indicate their interest to join the five-member bloc.
“As the five BRICS countries, we have reached agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process, which has been under discussion for quite a while. We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process, and further phases will follow.
“We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of BRICS. The membership will take effect from 1 January 2024,” Ramaphosa said.
The debate concerning the expansion of the bloc was a major agenda during the three-day summit as over 50 leaders of the emerging economies attended the meetings.
With the registration of new countries, the group seeks to increase world economic influence. The five members already represent over 40% of the world’s population and up to 31% of the global GDP.
Ramaphosa expressed that BRICS highly regards the interest received by other countries in building a partnership with the bloc.
The SA President also announced that the leaders have charged their respective Foreign Ministers to further develop the BRICS partner country model during the next summit, along with a list of prospective partner countries.
He said through the BRICS summit, the bloc has embarked on a new chapter in its approach to building a world that is fair, just, inclusive, and prosperous.
All the Presidents of the five members were present for the summit except Russia’s Vladimir Putin who joined the summit virtually.
The group invited 69 countries including all African states to the August summit. BRICS is a bloc that seeks to counterbalance the domination of the Western economies. Its name is derived from the five countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.