By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa leads the South Africa’s delegation to the Brics Summit in Kazan, Russia, from October 22-24.
Brics, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, has expanded to include SA , Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE.
Last year, the bloc invited six more nations — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, Argentina has since withdrawn following the election of pro-Western President Javier Milei.
South Africa’s participation in the summit was aimed at enhancing the country’s growth and development through its membership in Brics, focusing on strengthening intra-Brics relations and fostering mutually beneficial cooperation.
This includes advancing political and security cooperation, financial and economic cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation.
Responding to questions in the National Assembly in Parliament, Ramaphosa spoke of the value of the Brics alliance in advancing Africa’s developmental agenda.
As chair of Brics last year, South Africa invited representatives from other African countries to attend the summit, hosted in Johannesburg. Forty-six African countries attended, including 20 heads of state and government.
Russia indicated that it would focus on “promoting the entire range of partnership and cooperation within the framework of the association on three key tracks – politics and security, the economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian ties”.
According to Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, 32 countries have confirmed their participation, with 24 being represented by their heads of state, while the remaining eight will send high-ranking officials.
In addition, the secretaries-general of several international organizations will take part in the event, including UN chief Antonio Guterres, said Ushakov.
Major topics at the summit are likely to include economic cooperation, trade agreements and the challenges faced by BRICS members, such as geopolitical tensions, the global economic slowdown and climate change.
Russia will likely highlight multilateralism, using the BRICS platform to counter Western-dominated global governance structures.
According to Ushakov, this year, the BRICS leaders will also consider accepting new members at the summit. As of now, 34 states are seeking either full membership or cooperation in other forms, he said.
Among countries from Africa, Ushakov mentioned Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Senegal, Zimbabwe and South Sudan, from Asia and the Middle East — Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Palestine, Pakistan, Syria, Thailand, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka, from Latin America — Bolivia, Venezuela and Honduras, and from Europe — Belarus. Meanwhile, Türkiye has also shown interest, viewing BRICS as a complementary platform to its existing partnerships.