During a summit in Johannesburg, the BRICS consortium resolved to invite Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates into their ranks, as announced by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. This expansion will come into effect on January 1, 2024. These additions would mark an expansion of the BRICS bloc for the first time in 13 years.
“I appreciate Egypt being invited to join Brics and look forward to coordinating with the group to achieve its goals in supporting economic cooperation,” explained Egyptian president Sisi to Reuters.
XV BRICS SUMMIT 2023 Media Conference #BRICSSummit2023 https://t.co/b1SufIVfJN
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) August 24, 2023
Saudi Arabia has also expressed gratitude for the BRICS invitation, with its foreign minister noting the country’s intention to thoroughly evaluate the proposal before confirming its participation by January 1. Minister Bin Farhan affirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to being a trustworthy energy supplier and highlighted that bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and BRICS nations surpassed $160 billion in the preceding year.
What’s the BRICS group?
The BRICS, originally created by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in 2001, began in 2009 as an informal association of four nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – and later expanded to include South Africa, evolving as a grouping to enhance economic and financial cooperation between its member-states.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter) the South African president said: “BRICS is a diverse group of nations. It is an equal partnership of countries that have differing views but a shared vision for a better world.
