South Africa called for strengthening and developing the partnership between BRICS and Africa, including on the implementation of the Johannesburg Declaration, said the Chairman of the upper house of the South African Parliament, Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, at the plenary session of the X BRICS Parliamentary Forum on Friday.
“We reaffirm our commitment to the […] project of strengthening the partnership between BRICS and Africa, in particular with regard to the implementation of the declaration that was adopted in Johannesburg in 2023,” she said.
The chairman also expressed hope that South Africa's BRICS partner countries will allow the Republic to effectively implement the project of creating the African Continental Free Trade Area. So far, 44 countries have signed this agreement.
Earlier, the heads of the BRICS delegations participating in the parliamentary forum signed a protocol to the Memorandum of Understanding on the BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which was adopted during the IX BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Johannesburg. As noted by the Chairman of the Federation Council of Russia, Valentina Matvienko, the protocol was developed in order to involve new participants in the process of interparliamentary interaction.