The BRICS group of nations has extended invitations to six oil-producing countries to become full members.
BRICS is a grouping of the world economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa formed by the 2010 addition of South Africa to the predecessor BRIC. The original acronym BRIC, or The BRICs, was coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist, Jim O’Neill to describe fast-growing economies that would collectively dominate the global economy by 2050.
The 15th edition of the 2023 BRICS summit is currently ongoing.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa invited the leaders of 67 countries to the summit, including 53 other African Countries, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Indonesia and Iran.
Ramaphosa speaking on the group’s expansion plan on Thursday at the ongoing BRICS summit in Johannesburg said the new members will join the club by January 1, 2024.
The invited countries include Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“As a five-BRICS country, we have reached agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process which has been in discussion for quite a while. We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process and other phases will follow,” Ramaphosa said.
“We have decided to invite the Argentina Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to become full members of BRICS. The membership will take effect from the 1st of January, 2024.”
Three of the six oil-producing countries, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE, are key members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Nigeria, which is a member of OPEC as well, is not a member of the BRICS group, at least not yet.
In July 2023, the country secured the third largest oil-producer status in Africa, with an average oil production of 1,081,396 barrels per day (bpd).
On August 21, Vice-President Kashim Shettima departed Nigeria to represent President Bola Tinubu at the 15th BRICS summit in South Africa.
At the summit, heads of state are expected to deliberate on issues of trade and investment facilitation, sustainable development, innovation, and global governance reform.
It is also expected that the conference would focus on global geopolitics and infrastructure development as the body continues its outreach to leaders from Africa and the global south.