On Tuesday, French newspaper L’Opinion, citing sources in the Elysee palace, reported that Macron had asked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for an invitation to the upcoming BRICS summit.
BRICS unites the world's largest developing economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
A number of other countries intend to join the economic bloc, including Argentina, Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Egypt. South Africa, which assumed the rotating BRICS presidency in January, will host the 15th BRICS leader's summit in August.