The BRICS summit wrapped up on 24 August in Johannesburg, with a number of significant decisions, the most prominent of which was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s invitation to Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to join the BRICS group as permanent members, effective 1 January 2024.
The leaders of these six countries warmly received the invitation to join the BRICS, which could offer significant geopolitical benefits for all of the invited countries as well as the BRICS.
Importance of the Invited Countries
Even though a sizable number of countries—nearly 40 countries—submitted formal requests to join the BRICS, the existing BRICS members unanimously decided to invite only six countries to join the grouping, given the significance of the new countries and their respective positions on the regional and global stage, as explained below:
Egypt: From a geopolitical standpoint, Egypt is a significant Arab country that enjoys a strategic location along important trade routes and participates actively in regional and international affairs, let alone its role in the Middle East and North Africa. As a result, its membership in BRICS has the potential to increase the grouping’s power and influence in the region. As Egypt is a member of both the Arab League and the African Union, its membership in the BRICS will also increase the representation of the Arab and Islamic worlds and the Middle East in the grouping.
Saudi Arabia: Thanks to its vast oil reserves, Saudi Arabia has the largest economy in the Middle East. Along with its advantageous location, it also enjoys close economic and commercial ties with some BRICS countries, including China and India. Through BRICS membership, Riyadh also hopes to expand the diversification of its non-oil revenue streams and access new trade and investment markets.
Ethiopia: Ethiopia is considered a regionally significant country, particularly in East Africa. Due to its strong potential for growth, its rapidly expanding economy, its advantageous location on major trade routes, the variety of its natural resources, including energy, minerals, and agricultural products, and its sizable market with a population of more than 100 million, Ethiopia’s entry into the BRICS adds to the grouping’s regional balance and improves African representation and regional cooperation in the east of Africa.
Iran: Iran’s membership in BRICS may pave the way for increased economic cooperation with other members of the grouping in sectors like energy, trade, and investment because Iran has a sizable and diversified economy that is heavily dependent on oil and gas exports. Due to Iran’s substantial influence on Middle Eastern politics and security, its accession could result in improved political coordination and cooperation on local and global issues. Additionally, Iran’s regional clout could help the BRICS countries strike a better geopolitical balance.
Argentina: With a diversified economy and abundant natural resources, Argentina may be able to increase economic cooperation in areas like trade, investment, and infrastructure development as a result of joining the BRICS. Additionally, Argentina is a pivotal country in the global south. Therefore, its inclusion in the BRICS could improve the geopolitical balance of the grouping and increase its influence. Argentina is also a member of the Group of Twenty (G20) and is active in international economic and political affairs; thus, its accession to the BRICS will enhance cooperation and coordination among the member countries.
The UAE: The UAE is regarded as one of the world’s major financial and commercial hubs. It is anticipated that after the announcement of its BRICS membership, it will work even more closely with the BRICS countries on projects like infrastructure development, trade, and investment. The UAE also has extensive expertise in fields like infrastructure, technology, and renewable energy. The exchange of knowledge and collaboration with Emirates in these areas may be advantageous for BRICS members. The UAE also benefits from a strategic location that makes it a center of the world’s trade; as a result, joining BRICS could increase the volume of intra-trade between the UAE and the BRICS countries.
Gains for the BRICS
Possibly, the BRICS expansion will amplify the strategic, economic, and logistical opportunities of the BRICS grouping through logistical and network integration with these countries, and this will enable the grouping to accomplish the following:
- More Diverse Representation: With the addition of the new members, BRICS will be able to strengthen its position as a truly global alliance of the South by incorporating viewpoints from various economies.
- Resource expansion: The increase in the group’s total gross domestic product, experience, and labor force will permit the initiation of a multitude of development projects.
- Expanded Geographic Reach: The new members will expand the geographic reach of the BRICS into their respective regions, allowing it to strengthen cooperation networks across a broader global region.
- Maritime Security Cooperation: As part of efforts to improve strategic cooperation, the new economies will work to make it easier for them to work together on projects that protect key sea lanes.
- Access to New Markets: The diversification of trade and investment within the BRICS group will benefit from greater market access across the regions represented by the new members.
- Extensive Talent Pool: The combination of human capital, skills, and diverse fields of expertise from the new countries enables innovative progress to be made in numerous fields.
Geopolitical Gains for the New Countries
There are numerous benefits that will accrue to the six countries joining the BRICS grouping, including access to vast markets containing approximately 40% of the world’s population, increasing opportunities for trade and investment with countries that account for about 25% of global production, diversifying sources of funding, investment, and export strategies, fostering chances for advanced BRICS member countries to transfer technology and technical expertise, promoting cooperation in the fields of energy, agriculture, and infrastructure, boosting competitiveness through information and expertise exchange, and gaining access to alternative financing sources.
The six countries invited to join BRICS will also benefit from a variety of geopolitical advantages, including:
- Diversifying Reserves: Following the conclusion of the fifteenth BRICS summit, it was decided to create a working group to adopt a common currency for the BRICS as an alternative to the US dollar. The BRICS finance ministers were instructed to discuss the possibility of cooperation in local currencies, which, if agreed upon, will mean reducing dependence on the US dollar as the main currency in their commercial transactions, which ultimately contributes to the strengthening of these countries’ national currencies.
- Boosting International Influence and Strength: Inviting new countries to join a powerful international grouping such as BRICS will increase the influence and strength of these countries, particularly on the international stage, and increase their ability to influence the formulation of global policies and advance their interests.
- Expanded Diplomatic Presence: International groupings give countries a forum to interact and bargain with other countries, which can help countries widen their network of diplomatic relations and share ideas.
- Strengthening National Security: International groupings also offer a venue for security cooperation and coordination in the face of widespread security issues. This can improve the ability of countries to address security threats.
- Increased Economic Cooperation: Economic blocs provide opportunities for member states to increase their trade and investment. As a result of the interdependence of the countries in the grouping, this can boost economic growth, diversify income sources, and ensure the availability of strategic commodities.
- Achieving Regional and International Stability: Collaboration with other countries can help a region achieve stability both locally and on a global scale.
- Exchange of Experience and Knowledge: By becoming a member of an international grouping, a member country may be able to share experiences and knowledge in a range of fields with other members of that organization.
Broad Welcome
In their initial responses, the leaders of the countries that had recently invited to join BRICS welcomed the confidence of the organization’s members. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi expressed Egypt’s pride in the confidence of all BRICS members, with whom Egypt maintains close ties. Al-Sisi expressed Egypt’s desire for cooperation and coordination with the grouping’s members in order to achieve the grouping’s goals of enhancing economic cooperation and working to amplify the South’s collective voice on a range of issues.
The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, also expressed his country’s appreciation for the BRICS leaders’ decision to include the UAE in this significant grouping and his country’s desire to collaborate with all countries for the prosperity and benefit of all countries and peoples of the world.
Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, hailed his country’s invitation to join the BRICS as a “great moment” and declared Ethiopia ready to work with everyone to establish a comprehensive and prosperous international order.
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi’s political advisor, Mohammad Jamshidi, called Tehran’s permanent membership in the BRICS group of developing economies a “historic development and a strategic success” for its foreign policy.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said in a statement following his country’s invittaion to the BRICS that the Kingdom enjoys strategic relations with BRICS’ member countries, highlighting the need to overcome obstacles to sustainable development and resolve conflicts peacefully. He also noted that Saudi Arabia is working to stabilize the energy markets and advance toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
In conclusion, the BRICS group’s expansion is a significant step toward enhancing global cooperation and achieving geopolitical balance; it benefits all of the participating countries and promotes cooperation and the joint tackling of global challenges.
