The economic coalition of emerging markets known as the BRICS grouping has decided to extend membership invitations to six countries as part of the ongoing fifteenth summit in the Republic of South Africa. The BRICS alliance, which currently unites Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is ready to invite the so-called other countries to its ranks: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join this of the economic grouping of emerging market countries, said the President of the Republic of South Africa and the current BRICS Chairman, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, in his speech on Thursday, August 24, 2023. South Africa is currently hosting the 15th BRICS Summit, where the expansion of the group was a key agenda item. The Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, could not attend in person, probably because of the order of the International Criminal Court, which would theoretically bind the host country, i.e. South Africa, as a signatory to this ICC agreement, to arrest him.
The BRICS community is a diverse group of nations,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa. “It is an equal partnership of countries that have different opinions but a common vision of a better world. As five BRICS members, we have reached an agreement on the main principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the expansion process of our BRICS coalition.”, said the South African President and current BRICS Chairman. Twenty-three countries have formally applied for BRICS membership, including the six that Mr Ramaphosa said had been invited, according to a statement from economic correspondents. Other major African players such as Nigeria and Ghana have shown informal interest and are therefore likely to be invited in the next round. Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, August 24, 2023 that the expansion is “a new starting point for the cooperation of the BRIC countries.” “It will bring new strength to the BRICS cooperation mechanism and further strengthen the forces for world peace and development,” the Chinese president told a news conference, with South African President Mr Ramaphosa hinting at the possibility of future additions.
Mr. Gustavo de Carvalho, a political analyst and senior researcher at the South African Institute of International Relations, said on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, that the potential new members will not only increase the visibility of the BRICS bloc, but also provide an opportunity for the coalition participants to do business with each other. in local currencies. Brazil’s da Silva newspaper noted on Thursday 8/24/2023 that the BRICS group continues to study the possibility of a block currency that could “increase our means of payment and reduce our vulnerability.” The BRICS nations have taken different tones in relation to the West. Trade and diplomatic tensions have risen between China and the US, while Russia is under a barrage of Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. This BRICS summit is thus taking place in a situation where the exchange value of the world’s reserve currency and the main currency of the world’s commodity markets, the US dollar (USD), is considerably high in the medium to long term. During the European Thursday almost noon on 24/08/2023, at approximately 11:44 CET, the exchange value of USD measured by the dollar index DXY (US Dollar Currency Index) moved at a point level of 103.63 USD points with a daily strengthening of + 0 .20% of the point value according to this index.
