The BRICS Leaders consist of five nations at the Summit in South Africa on Thursday, have reached consensus on the expansion guidelines of admission to join BRICS members for countries.
Report has it that the BRICS bank commonly called ‘New Development Bank’ (NDB) confirmed that it has started reviewing applications from countries that have formally applied to join the alliance.
The head of NDB, Dilma Rousseff, said that the bank is reviewing applications sent from 15 countries, but she did not name the applicant countries but confirmed that BRICS’ priority is to diversify the geographical location.
Rousseff’s statements hint that the BRICS bloc is looking to induct countries from all corners of the world. NDB might not specifically stick to one location or continent and aims to be a diverse group after expansion.
BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa while speculation is rife that the NDB might approve five countries to join BRICS and could announce the induction this month.
There are hints that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the five countries to be approved. If the deal goes through, and Saudi Arabia could be the main source of funding and boost the NDB’s financial prospects.
The BRICS bank needs funding as lending in the U.S. dollar dried up due to the sanctions placed against Russia over Ukraine invasion. Therefore, Saudi Arabia could be the key to its revival and provide a new pathway in the global lending markets.
However, at the ongoing BRICS Summit, consensus was reached that these countries consists of Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirate will be full members of BRICS with effect from 1 January 2024:
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa who chair the BRICS members confirmed that as the five members, the BRCIS have reached agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process.
He said, “We’ve reached consensus on the first phase of this expansion process and decided to invite the Argentine, the Egypt, Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of BRICS from 1 January 2024”.
Meanwhile, as both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are top oil-producing nations and export millions of barrels every year. If BRICS begins to ditch the United States dollar for oil trade and settle payments in local currencies, the greenback will be on the path of decline.
With the event underway, 15 countries are reportedly seeking to join the BRICS New Development Bank as the 2023 annual summit begins. The bank is set to be a focal point of the event, as the discussion over local currency lending is likely to be prioritized by the alliance.
While the Shanghai-based BRICS lender set to focus on lessening dependence on US dollar. Moreover, the bank’s president, Dilma Rousseff, noted the desire for the institution to be “made by developing countries for themselves.” she also noted the host of countries seeking to join the bank.