President Cyril Ramaphosa in a bilateral meeting with President Isaias Afwerki of the State of Eritrea on the margins of the BRICS Summit 2023 in Johannesburg. Picture: Jairus Mmutle/GCIS
BRICS is steadily announcing to the world that it is an economic group not to be undermined.
This comes after it was announced in Johannesburg that the BRICS group will welcome five countries as new members in 2024.
The announcement is likely to cause reactions in the Western market considering the now-combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the group.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, as BRICS chair, announced the new members of the group on the third and last day of the summit.
“We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of BRICS from 1 January 2024,” Ramaphosa said.
The South African president said that the member states found a consensus in the invitation of these countries. In line with their commitment to “inclusive multilaterism”, BRICS countries reached consensus on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures of the BRICS expansion process.
On the first two days of the summit in Sandton, during deliberations, the leaders all expressed their reactions and support from interested countries.
They said it reflected the BRICS mandate to address global challenges, close the development gap, and embrace multilateral partnership.
So what does this mean for the globe?
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the combined GDP of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in 2022 was $27.3 trillion.
The GDPs of Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina in 2022 were $3.2 trillion, $730 billion, $402 billion, $813 billion, and $456 billion, respectively.
With the announcement of these five countries joining BRICS, the combined GDP of the bloc would be $38.1 trillion.
This would make the BRICS the largest economic bloc in the world, with a GDP larger than that of the G7 (which has a combined GDP of $36.8 trillion).
A combined GDP of $38.1 trillion would be seen as a significant increase in purchasing and trading power on the global stage.
This is because it would represent a significant increase in the economic clout of the BRICS countries.