Since the beginning of the the Russia-Ukraine crisis last year, there has been a growing interest in joining BRICS, according to
Anil Sooklal, sherpa of the Republic of South Africa in BRICS. The crisis highlighted the fault lines in the
global political architecture and showed that countries of the Global South are not treated as equals by the countries of the Global North, who "want to continue to dominate and be the global [leaders]".
Countries in the Global South increasingly want to exert their independence, sovereignty, and have their voice heard on the global stage, the official said, adding that BRICS is seen as the forum that is most receptive and most aligned to the aspirations of those nations to create a more equitable, inclusive, and fairer global community.
According to Sooklal, this surge of interest indicates that these countries see BRICS as championing issues that need to be tackled concerning their development, their voices being heard, and creating a more
inclusive multipolar world order.
He noted that countries from all parts of the world, from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, are seeking to become BRICS members. African nations that have already asked to join BRICS include Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia, according to the South African envoy.
As BRICS continues to discuss the possibility of expanding its membership, the question of how this will affect its standing in the international community remains a topic of discussion.
Sooklal commented on the ongoing process of working out how to expand and said that last year the BRICS leaders announced their intention to expand through the Beijing declaration, and the bloc is still working on
determining how best to proceed. One possibility is admitting new countries as full members, and another is creating partner countries or other categories for expansion.
The New Development Bank (NDB), a financial institution established by the BRICS countries in 2014, has already admitted new partners as members of the bank, he said. Countries such as Uruguay, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bangladesh have already been admitted as BRICS members of the bank. However, what is being sought from these countries is political association with the BRICS group.
The South African representative added that an expanded BRICS membership could potentially increase the collective weight of the group in the international community. He argued that the BRICS countries have already
outpaced the G7's contribution to global growth since 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Sooklal pointed out that BRICS countries accounting for 31.5 percent of global GDP compared with the G7's 30 percent. However, if the four new members of the New Development Bank (Uruguay, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bangladesh) are added to BRICS' GDP, it would rise to 34.5 percent.