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BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa

"BRICS" is the acronym denoting the emerging national economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The term was originally coined in 2001 as "BRIC" by the Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in his report, Building Better Global Economic BRICs (Global Economics Paper No: 66). At that time, the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China experienced significant growth, raising concerns regarding their impact on the global economy.

A compromise was finally reached on 25 August 2023, with 6 members: Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Argentina and Ethiopia. So from now on it’s BRICS 11. And that’s just the beginning. Starting with the rotating Russian presidency of BRICS on January 1, 2024, more partners will be progressively included, and most certainly a new round of full members will be announced at the BRICS 11 summit in Kazan in October next year.

For all practical purposes, in Eurasian terms, the enlarged BRICS 11 was the way to control the Arctic Sea Route; the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC); BRI’s East West Corridors; the Persian Gulf; the Red Sea; and the Suez Canal. That blends several overland corridors with several nodes of the Maritime Silk Roads. Nearly total integration in the Heartland and the Rimland. All with just a single strategic move in the geopolitical / geoeconomic chessboard.

Much more than an increase of BRICS 11 collective GDP to 36% of the world’s total (already larger than the G7), with the group now encompassing 47% of the world’s population, the top geopolitical and geoeconomic breakthrough is how BRICS 11 is about to literally break the bank on the energy and commodities market fronts. By incorporating Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, BRICS 11 instantly shines on as an oil and gas powerhouse. BRICS 11 now controls 39% of global oil exports; 45.9% of proven reserves; and at least 47.6% of all oil produced globally.

Foreign ministers of these countries began meeting informally in 2006, which led to more formal annual summits beginning in 2009. In 2006, the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, and China met for the first time on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, marking the beginning of BRIC cooperation. In June 2009, the BRIC leaders held their first meeting in Russia, upgrading BRIC cooperation to Summit level. In 2011, with South Africa officially becoming a member, BRIC was enlarged to BRICS. In 20211, BRICS accounted for 24 percent of world GDP [current exchange] and over 16 percent of world trade.

Since South Africa joined BRIC in 2010, transforming BRIC into BRICS, the five members have achieved policy coordination in over seventy issue areas. BRICS has become an all-round and multi-level framwork, with BRICS Summit playing a leading role, supported by BRICS Meetings of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Meetings of National Security Advisers, carrying out practical cooperation in dozens of areas, such as economy and trade, finance, science and technology, industry, agriculture, culture, education, health, think tanks, and friendship cities.

Generally speaking, these meetings are held to improve economic conditions within BRICS countries and give their leaders the opportunity to work in collaboration regarding these efforts. In December of 2010, South Africa joined the informal group and changed the acronym to BRICS. Together these emerging markets by one account represent 42% of the world population and account for over 31% of the world's PPP GDP.

In 2017, China successfully hosted the BRICS Xiamen Summit. The BRICS leaders unanimously agreed to develop a closer, broader and more comprehensive strategic partnership, and consolidate the three-wheel-driven cooperation covering economy, political security and people-to-people exchanges. The BRICS leaders also set up the idea of BRICS+ cooperation and jointly ushered in the second Golden Decade of BRICS cooperation. As the BRICS Chair of 2022, China successfully held the 14th BRICS Summit on June 23. Under the theme of “Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development”, leaders of the five countries had an in-depth exchange of views on BRICS cooperation in various areas and major issues of common interest and reached important consensus.

On 24 June 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired the High-level Dialogue on Global Development,leaders of BRICS countries and 13 other highly representative emerging markets and developing countries attended the Dialogue. Important consensus was reached on promoting global development. After the Dialogue, a Chair’s Statement together with the deliverables of the High-level Dialogue on Global Development were released.

President Xi Jinping said the group’s purpose was to “make the world a more stable place” and “speak out for equity and justice.” He then appeared to take aim at the West, though the U.S. was never referred to by name. “We must abandon cold war mentality and bloc confrontation and oppose unilateral sanctions and the abuse of sanctions”. Unlike the others, Xi did refer directly to Ukraine, saying: “The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis has resulted in disruptions to global industrial and supply chains … and emerging markets and developing countries bear the brunt.” Of the BRICS member states — emerging economies that position themselves as an alternative to the U.S.-led liberal world order — only Brazil under President Jair Bolsonaro voted in 2022 at the United Nations against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China, India and South Africa all abstained from condemning the invasion. BRICS is a rising power de-dollarization coalition, developing multiple de-dollarization initiatives to reduce currency risk and bypass US sanctions. In 2009, Russian President Reference MedvedevDmitry Medvedev (2009) hosted the first BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) Summit in Yekaterinburg to explore how to “overcome the crisis and establish a fairer international system … and discuss the parameters for a new financial system.” BRICS' coalitional de-dollarization initiatives have established critical infrastructure for a prospective alternative nondollar global financial system.

The New Development Bank (NDB) is a multilateral development bank established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) with the purpose of mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs). NDB’s General Strategy for 2022–2026, entitled “Scaling Up Development Finance for a Sustainable Future”, set the course for the Bank’s evolution into a leading provider of solutions for infrastructure and sustainable development for emerging market economies and developing countries. In 2021, NDB Board of Governors approved the admission of Bangladesh, UAE, Egypt and Uruguay into NDB family, which heralded the beginning of the Bank’s expansion as a global multilateral institution. The NDB’s commitment to using local currency finance rather than solely relying on the US dollar is merely the tip of the iceberg of BRICS’ de-dollarization initiatives.

Since its formation as the BRIC in 2006, the group has only added one new member — South Africa in 2010. By 2023 Saudi Arabia and Iran were among the countries who’ve formally asked to join. Other countries that have expressed interest in joining include Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain and Indonesia, along with two nations from East Africa and one from West Africa which were not identifiedd.

Dmitry Trenin noted " A number of countries from all over the globe have lined up at BRICS' door, ready to walk in. These include Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Going for a big-bang enlargement would be a loud statement, to the effect that an alternative to the US-led system of alliances and partnerships is being built. However, the question is would such an expansion make a much more diversified BRICS immediately stronger or not?... The G7’s role is to preserve the old order in which the West is dominant; the BRICS members’ ambition is to build elements of a new, more diversified and better-balanced world order – first of all among themselves and then to further impact the evolution of the world system."

As a result of the summit in Johannesburg , the United Arab Emirates , Saudi Arabia , Iran , Argentina , Egypt and Ethiopia received an official invitation to join the economic bloc . Their full membership will begin on January 1, 2024. It was reported that only 23 states expressed a desire to join the BRICS.

BRICS members supported the retention of the name of the association after the expansion of the number of participants, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov 24 August 2023. “Everything is for the name to remain, it has already become a brand. None of the newcomers to the ranks of the BRICS suggested otherwise,” the Foreign Minister said at a press conference following the organization’s summit in South Africa .

As a result, BRICS will now account for 37% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and almost half of the world’s population. In its declaration from the summit, BRICS said it aims to increase the representation of poorer nations at the United Nations and called for increasing the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions between BRICS members and their trading partners, posing a further challenge to the position of the US dollar as the presumed de facto currency of international trade. “BRICS and NATO are fundamentally different. BRICS has never prioritized military cooperation,” Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University, told RT. “Most of the participants are absolutely unwilling to turn BRICS into a military alliance and do not want to disrupt relations with other blocs. This applies both to the current members of the alliance and to those who want to join, such as the ASEAN countries.” Founded in 2015, the New Development Bank acts as an analogue and competitor to the World Bank, issuing large loans for infrastructure projects. Its total financial volume is smaller than that of the Washington-based lender: in 2021, the New Development Bank lent $7 billion to participants, while the World Bank disbursed nearly $100 billion. But the terms of the loans are often quite generous, so demand is high.

The BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) is essentially a common reserve of currencies available to members in the event of a liquidity crisis. It is designed to provide them with the means to trade smoothly and meet financial obligations even under severe pressure. In times of an investment famine that is threatening global economic growth and with some members under sanctions, such a reserve can be very useful.

In addition to ‘currency insurance’, the CRA could also help to create a single BRICS currency, a kind of analogue to the euro. This titanic project has been discussed for a long time, and recently experts have suggested that the New Development Bank could issue a single digital currency. This is not a far-fetched idea, given that China, Russia and India have already launched their own CBDCs (central bank digital currency), and Brazil and South Africa are preparing to do the same. However, it will not be easy to implement such a project and its preparation will take a long time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was presented with a symbolic BRICS banknote at the group’s October 2024 summit in Russia’s Kazan. Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, called the note quasi-money because he stressed it epitomizes BRICS member states’ mutual cooperation. A total of 1,000 such notes – with a nominal value of 100 BRICS – were printed in the town of Kirzhach in Russia’s Vladimir Region. The bill was made in the run-up to the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The front side of the bill features the national flags and the most recognizable symbols of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, while its back displays the flags and names of new members, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, as well as the group’s potential partners. All the drawings are handmade.

Russia assumed the rotating presidency of the bloc on January 1, 2024. The year began with the accession of new members to the association. In addition to Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa, it now includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, according to the website of the Russian 2024 BRICS Chairmanship. Saudi Arabia has not reportedly formalized its participation but has been taking part in BRICS meetings. BRICS member states agreed on a list of partner states during the summit in Russia’s Kazan.

The BRICS Summit was held in Kazan from October 22-24. The event focused on strengthening multilateralism, integrating new members of the bloc and addressing regional challenges. Over 30 states sent representatives to the 2024 BRICS Summit that was held in the Russian city of Kazan. The appearance of representatives from half the population of the world at the BRICS Summit in Kazan highlighted the extent to which Russia is not isolated. The fact that even UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was present signified the importance and significance that the BRICS is holding. But the fact that this has happened under Putin, shows that he's very much in charge of trying to come up with an alternative world order in response to the sanctions and the hegemony of the United States and the West, to try and isolate not only Russia, but China, Iran, and also to try and bolster the developing countries.

“The grouping has now become the global growth engine and its economic muscle is by any measure stronger than that of the old hegemonic grouping. One can say that it's the official launch of the multilateral world order, the twilight of the US hegemony,” Professor Alexis Habiyaremye, a senior researcher with DSI/NRF, South African Research Chair in Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg said. “The most important outcomes are not simply the initiatives contained in the declaration, but above all, the strategic alignment of a such diverse group, and the gleam of the power it radiates by attracting new candidates such as Turkiye. Given the strategic role of Turkiye in the old hegemonic order, the presence of its leader at the summit reflects the measure of BRICS' future in leading the global affairs,” Habiyaremye said. Unlike that ‘old hegemonic order,’ the new one represented by BRICS highlights "the rejection of dominance and unilateralism," and initiatives which "reflect a more balanced distribution of power and responsibilities," the researcher said.

“The main thing is that President Putin shows that [despite] Western propaganda that he’s isolated, he’s got a lot of friends. A lot of presidents came to Russia,” Dr. Patrick Bond, distinguished professor of political economy at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, told Sputnik, summarizing the main results and achievements of the Kazan Summit. “They have 20,000 delegates in Kazan, they have all of these other activities; it shows that the Russians take this very seriously. And that was historic,” Bond noted.

The Kazan Declaration, published 23 October 2024 and featuring 134 provisions aimed at "creating a more just and democratic world order," "enhancing cooperation for global and regional stability and security," “fostering economic and financial cooperation” and "strengthening people-to-people exchanges for social and economic development." Specific provisions include consensus among bloc members on the need for a reform of the Bretton Woods system and the United Nations, further expansion of the use of national currencies in trade, commitments to strengthen cooperation in high-tech and medicine, agreement to continue talks on the ambitious BRICS Clear cross-border settlement and depository system, support for the Russia-proposed BRICS Grain Exchange platform, and an array of proclamations related to international emergencies, from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to crises in South Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan.

In the Kazan Declaration, BRICS member states specifically reaffirmed their support for comprehensive reform of the UN, including the Security Council. The UN Security Council (UNSC) should be expanded "to reflect the vastly different world of today," Robinder Sachdev, geopolitical and economic diplomacy analyst and founder president of the Imagindia Institute, told Sputnik. The UN’s "key decision-making bodies, like the Security Council, disproportionately reflect the interests of a few powerful nations, sidelining most member states. The voices of other countries and smaller nations are often drowned out, making the UN non-representative of the global community of 8 billion people. This imbalance undermines its legitimacy as a truly inclusive and equitable international institution," Sachdev said.

Another question relates to the BRICS’ consensus on reforming of Western-led international institutions, with Bond expressing concerns that continuing to rely upon the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change may mean that BRICS still have excessive interconnections" with the Western-dominated order, and inferring the need for something fundamentally new. The same goes for the BRICS New Development Bank, which was still lending in dollars thanks to difficulties in finding consensus to the Contingent Reserve Arrangement as an alternative to the IMF.

Some 36 world leaders wrapped up the meeting of the BRICS alliance with a pledge to add 13 new partners. The newly expanded BRICS will include Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Venezuela failed in its bid to join BRICS after Brazil vetoed its admission; Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he would not accept the result of July’s election in which Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claimed to narrowly win reelection.