Five new countries joined the BRICS group on January 1, a step of important economic and political dimensions.
The BRICS, an economic platform for emerging markets and developing countries, welcomed its five new members - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, and Ethiopia - in August last year during the groups summit in South Africa.
The group now comprises 10 countries, strengthening further its position and role in international politics as the voice of the Global South.
Founded in 2006, the BRICS nations encompass the largest emerging economies and population blocs in the world. It held the first conference in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China under the name BRIC which was later renamed BRICS with the joining of South Africa in 2011.
Russia will assume the presidency of the BRICS during 2024 under the motto "Strengthening Multilateralism for Justice in Global Development and Security". Moscow plans to hold more than 200 events on the groups political, economic, social and cultural issues in more than ten Russian cities, including the groups summit in October scheduled in city of Kazan, the capital of Russian Tatarstan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that his country will work, during its presidency of the BRICS, to promote all aspects of the BRICS partnership in three key areas, including politics and security, economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts. Russia also aims to increase the role of the bloc in the international monetary and financial system and to promote settlements in national currencies.
In a clear indication of the growing economic and political importance of the path charted by the BRICS, and that the group is now receiving the attention of many countries of the Global South, more than 20 countries have submitted applications to join the group's membership, which means that the group is likely to transform into a giant political and economic bloc within the next few years. Former Brazilian president and current head of the group's New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff, stressed that the enlarged BRICS group is a force in the global south that can never be ignored.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expressed his hope that his country would join the BRICS group as a full member during its next summit in Russia. President Maduro believes that BRICS is the future of humanity, pointing to the economic potential of its countries and the capabilities of the groups New Development Bank. He said that his country was betting on BRICS as part of a new world that embodies balance and equality.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, explaining reasons for BRICS expansion, said that the value of BRICS extends beyond the interests of its current members, noting the expanded BRICS will represent a diverse group of countries with different political systems that share a common desire to have a global order that is more balanced and based on clear rules that apply equally to all countries.
Since its establishment, the BRICS group has developed various mechanisms of cooperation among its member countries. Its focus has extended to issues such as trading in local and digital currencies instead of the US dollar, creating an alternative to the Western payment system SWIFT, and establishing a New Development Bank (NDB) to provide loans to countries outside the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank. The BRICS group aspires to create an economic system parallel to the current one led by the United States and reshape the global system by shifting power from the Global North to the Global South.
In contrast to Western policies, the BRICS members reject, in principle, the use of sanctions. They did not impose sanctions on Russia following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine but expressed support for peaceful initiatives aimed at ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Additionally, BRICS members call for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including greater representation for developing countries in the Security Council.
The BRICS countries are leading members in various international organizations, including the United Nations, the Group of Twenty (G20), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Group of 77 (G77), as well as several regional organizations such as the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
In terms of numbers, the economic weight of the BRICS countries on the global stage is substantial. WTO data reveals that the collective GDP of BRICS countries reached approximately 44 trillion USD by the end of 2022, accounting for 17 percent of global trade. These countries also produce about 44 percent of the world's crude oil supply.
The BRICS group represents 42 percent of the world's total population, with approximately 3.2 billion people, while the Group of Seven (G7) countries have a population of around 800 million. From a military standpoint, the BRICS group is considered an unparalleled force, with three nuclear powers: Russia, China, and India, as well as four of the world's most powerful armies, with approximately 11 million soldiers and a defense expenditure exceeding 400 billion USD.
In 2014, the BRICS group established the NDB to provide loans to developing countries. By the end of 2022, the bank had extended loans to those nations for the construction of roads, bridges, railways, and water supply development, funding projects with a total value of around 32 billion USD.
