6 more countries set to join BRICS
Leaders of the BRICS group have decided to invite six more countries to join their alliance, POLITICO reports.
Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have all been invited to become members of BRICS, said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who hosted a three-day summit of the emerging markets group in Johannesburg this week.
Their membership will take effect January 1, 2024.
“We value the interest of other countries in building a partnership with BRICS,” Ramaphosa said. “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.”
Representatives from the BRICS emerging group — made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — gathered in Johannesburg for their 15th summit, the first one to be hosted in person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.