Five countries, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt will join the BRICS group of emerging-market states on January 1, 2024.
South Africa’s ambassador to the bloc, Anil Sooklal, disclosed this in an interview on Friday.
The BRICS group, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, asked six other nations to join their alliance in August, with the goal of challenging the US-led global order.
Russia created the alliance in 2009, and it now represents 42% of the world’s population, 30% of the global geography, and 24% of global economic production.
The five invitees accepted the invitation by attending a BRICS sherpa summit earlier this month in Durban, South Africa, and are likely to send representatives to another meeting in Moscow on January 30.
Argentina, on the other hand, declined the offer after President Javier Milei, who took office this month, overturned his predecessor’s quest to join the club.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, over 30 countries have expressed interest in developing links with the union.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and largest economy, also hopes to join BRICS within the next two years, according to Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar in November.
However, Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, who attended the group’s meeting in South Africa, failed to demonstrate any concrete interest in becoming a member.
South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said that the expansion of the alliance is driven by the desire for alternative arrangements to the existing global power balance.
