Entry of Ethiopia, Egypt provided African BRICS in the wall...

The 16th annual BRICS summit was held in Kazan, Russia, from October 22 to 24. It had two major significances: one was that it was taking place amidst a more than two-year-long war between Russia and Ukraine, and secondly, it was the maiden summit after the extension of member nations from five to nine.

The BRIC bloc was formed by four major developing economies: Brazil, Russia, India and China, and it had its first-ever summit in Russia way back in 2009. 

Following that, the fifth member, South Africa, joined the bloc, and it was renamed as BRICS, which is an acronym of each member nation. The first full-fledged summit of BRICS, after the inclusion of South Africa, was held in China in 2011. It was the overall third summit of the bloc of major emerging economies in the world. 

Force

Besides having major objectives of addressing geopolitical and geoeconomic factors among member nations from time to time, the bloc has successfully emerged as a strong force to challenge the growing dominance of the G-7, a bloc comprising developed and advanced economies. 

Presently, the BRICS bloc represents 45 per cent of the total global population while the G-7 only accounts for 10 per cent. 

From the perspective of global GDP, BRICS accounts for 35 per cent, whereas G-7 represents 30 per cent. 

Incidentally, the GDP growth of member nations of the BRICS bloc is growing faster than the relatively stagnant growth of the G-7. 

Interestingly, the amalgamation of both is observed, i.e., G-7 and BRICS, in another bloc, G-20. All three blocs meet annually.

A few major takeaways from the summit:

 • Strengthening financial cooperation and expanding the use of local currency to enhance economic stability

• Resumption of bilateral discussions between the leaders of the 2nd and 5th largest economies in the world. Indo-China discussions certainly signify a potential thaw in the otherwise strained relations.

• Reaffirmed commitment to tackle the challenges of terrorism, food security, healthcare and climate change.

• Discussed strategies to amplify the “voice of the global south," ensuring the prominent role of developing nations in global governance and countering Western dominance.

• Enhancing the role of the New Development Bank (NDB), aiming to provide it with better autonomy and resilience against external challenges.

• Emphasised cultural ties and humanitarian initiatives among member nations.
 
Markets

Russia, despite being loaded with heavy sanctions from the Western world due to the prevailing war, used its presidency smartly and effectively to let the bloc of G-7 know that it fetched the decisive support of major emerging economies. 

Considering bigger markets within the BRICS bloc and its inclusive and matured approach to resolving various geopolitical and economic issues, most of the emerging economies within the global south have started displaying their interest in joining the bandwagon. 

Moreover, the bloc is also inclined towards including more members from the global south, which will certainly assist the bloc in improving its bargaining power against the global north in the coming time. It’s reported that close to 40 more nations are keen to join the bloc.

In recent years, it has been noticed that the otherwise deprived African countries have been annexed to the G-20 and BRICS. 

The African Union (AU), having a nominal combined GDP of $1.2 trillion and a global standing of eleventh, admitted to last year’s G-20 summit held in New Delhi under the presidency of India. Moreover, now Egypt and Ethiopia are formally being entered as member nations to the recently held BRICS summit. 

Both significant developments can certainly be considered a harbinger of a better tomorrow for Africa. 

It is up to the leadership of the AU, headquartered in Addis Ababa, to derive short-term and long-term strategies to make the best use of such influential blocs. It has the full cooperation of most of the 55 member nations. 

It is noted that leading emerging economies, such as China, India, and Russia, are aspiring to spread their wings in various pockets of Africa. 

The presence of AU on such platforms will certainly integrate the much-awaited process of unleashing potential opportunities for the benefit of 1.5 billion Africans. 

As long as the leadership remains comprehensive, committed, participative and proactive in its approach to accomplishing its vision, undoubtedly a big and positive change can be foreseen in the near future.

The writer is the Country Head of a leading Steel Organisation.