BRICS expansion sees Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and UAE welcomed into the network

BRICS chair president Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement at the closing of the Summit on Thursday morning at the Sandton Convention Centre. 

 “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. We value the interest of other countries in building a partnership with BRICS. We have tasked our foreign ministers to further develop the BRICS partner country model and a list of prospective partner countries and report by the next summit,” Ramaphosa said. 

China was in favour of Iran and Saudi Arabia joining the collective while South Africa named Egypt as its preferred country and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva supported its neighbour Argentina.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Six new countries invited to join BRICS — See our interactive world map

BRICS leaders expressed their satisfaction with the expansion with Russian president Vladimir Putin saying that the expansion process will be seamless. 

Da Silva mentioned the benefits that come with the expansion. He said expansion would not diffuse the influence of BRICS but would increase its power to adopt creative solutions for global problems. He particularly welcomed Brazil’s neighbour Argentina.

“The addition of these countries has increased the BRICS global PPP to 37%,” Da Silva said. 

Chinese president Xi Jinping congratulated the new members calling the announcement “historic” and adding that it shows the common interest of the global south. 

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the addition of new members will ensure the strengthening of Brics as an organisation.

Speaking via virtual linkup, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin praised Ramaphosa for having navigated the planning and execution of the summit well. He also assured that the expansion would be a seamless process. “Let me assure all the new Brics members that we continue with our mission to expand the bloc." DM