The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), gathered at the top in Johannesburg, announced that they will soon host six new member countries next January.
The new members are Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The announcement was made this Thursday, August 24, 2023 by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, host of the summit, during a joint press conference with the leaders of the five members of the group.
The question of the group’s expansion was the priority of this 15th summit opened on Tuesday while a forty countries including Algeria, had asked for their membership or expressed their interest.
According to the leaders of the “Club des Five”, which produces a quarter of the world’s wealth and brings together 42% of the population of the globe, this craze shows the growing influence of emerging countries on the world scene.
The BRICS reaffirmed their “non-aligned” position at the summit. With new memberships, the group will now weigh 36% of world GDP and 46% of the population.
In 2023, the BRICS block contributed 31.5 % of world GDP, exceeding the G7 share (30.7 % of world GDP for the first time).
