There are advantages of a multipolar world model for the African continent in the context of the BRICS efforts to achieve a balanced world order, Dr. Philani Mthembu, Executive Director of the Institute for Global Dialogue in Pretoria, South Africa, said in an interview with Sputnik Africa.
Dr. Mthembu highlighted the potential benefits for Africa in a multipolar world order, emphasizing the opportunity for the region's voice to be raised.
"A multipolar world in that sense works in Africa's interests," Dr. Mthembu said. "BRICS has consistently been championing a multipolar world order."
He also pointed to the evolving landscape of global financial institutions, citing in particular the BRICS New Development Bank's plan to increase the disbursement of loans in local currencies by 2026.
This shift towards greater currency diversity is expected to influence established institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, and spark discussions on global reform, including the restructuring of the UN and the UN Security Council, according to the South African expert.
"I think because we will have more centers of power rather than a concentrated structure that is centered around a US leadership and its Western allies. Of course, the US will still be there, its western partners will still be there, but they will have to work more in order to get things done," Mthembu told Sputnik Africa.
Dr. Mthembu emphasized that the advocacy of a multipolar world order by BRICS is not intended to be anti-Western. Instead, it envisions a global system in which different centers of power, including the EU as a more autonomous actor, play a significant role in shaping international institutions to better reflect current global realities.
"What's important is that countries in the West need to understand that a multipolar world order is not about being anti-Western and all of that," he noted. "The EU some years back was talking about the concept of strategic autonomy and whether that concept has been realized or not, I think Europeans need to ask themselves that."