Understanding The BRICS Alliance & African Countries That Have Joined BRICS

BRICS Expands to Africa: Nigeria, Algeria, and Uganda Join the Bloc

The BRICS alliance, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has been steadily gaining momentum since its inception in 2009. Now, in a bold step forward, the bloc has enlarged its footprint in Africa by inviting Nigeria, Algeria, and Uganda to join as partner countries. This strategic partnership promises to unlock new opportunities for economic cooperation, trade, and investment across the continent.

BRICS is an acronym for the powerful grouping of the world’s leading emerging market economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS mechanism aims to promote peace, security, development and cooperation.

The founding countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China held the first leaders’ summit in Russia in 2009 under the name BRIC. Following a renaming of the organization, South Africa attended its first summit as a member in 2011 after joining the group in 2010.

Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates attended their first summit as member states at the 2024 summit in Kazan Russia. Saudi Arabia is yet to officially join, but participates in the organization’s activities as an invited nation.

Currently, South Africa is the only African member of BRICS. However, the BRICS alliance officially announced the addition of 13 new nations, including three African countries, as partner countries during the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

BRICS, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has been on a serious growth streak over the last two years, aggressively pushing to change the order of the globe’s economic structure.

The group’s primary intention is to dominate the global market by increasing its economic influence. Collectively, the BRICS countries lay claim to 42% of the world’s population, 30% of the global landmass, and 24%of the global economic output.

Lately, the bloc ramped up efforts to move away from the US dollar, hoping to rely less on it. A big part of that plan? Bringing more countries on board to strengthen their cause.

Currently, South Africa is the only African member of BRICS. However, the BRICS alliance officially announced the addition of 13 new nations, including three African countries, as partner countries during the BRICS summit.

Below are the African countries that are now partners in BRICS:

Nigeria
Nigerian leadership has previously expressed interest in enhancing cooperation in trade, technology, and security within the BRICS framework.
As Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria has one of the largest economies on the continent, mainly thanks to its oil and gas industry. With over 200 million people, Nigeria has a huge consumer market that’s pretty appealing to BRICS countries looking to grow their trade and investment in Africa.

By strengthening its ties with BRICS, Nigeria could tap into new markets, attract more foreign investment, and gain access to valuable technology.

Algeria
Algeria is one of the African countries that previously expressed interest in joining the BRICS. The country recently got approval to join the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB).

As one of the largest producers of hydrocarbons in Africa, Algeria plays a crucial role in the continent’s energy landscape, making it a key player in the BRICS partnership.

Uganda
By aligning with the BRICS alliance, Uganda is positioning itself to benefit from deeper economic ties with some of the world’s largest emerging markets.

With a GDP that relies heavily on agriculture and natural resources, Uganda stands to gain from increased foreign investment and trade in sectors like oil, minerals, coffee, and tea.

Other BRICS partners
Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam are among the other countries currently recognized as BRICS partners.

It’s crucial to note how BRICS members differ from partners. Official members have voting rights in bloc decisions, full participation in summits and meetings, and a complete commitment to representing BRICS.

On the other hand, BRICS partners are only allowed limited involvement in BRICS activities and can still participate in other international initiatives without being fully committed to the bloc.
While the new BRICS partners have the potential to become full members in the future, they aren’t being inducted as members immediately for reasons known only to the bloc.