Following its expansion to ten member nations earlier this year, the BRICS alliance is attracting more prospective members. Multiple new nations have confirmed their intentions to join the bloc and work to eliminate the US Dollar. The bloc is currently comprised of the following nations, with more interested in joining later this year:
- Russia
- India
- China
- South Africa
- Brazil
- Iran
- Egypt
- Saudi Arabia
- Ethiopia
- UAE
The BRICS alliance invited six new nations to join at its Summer 2023 summit, with all but Argentina accepting. A similar number is expected to receive invites at the October summit in Russia. Around 40 nations have expressed interest in joining the bloc, with multiple already filing official applications.
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What Other Nations are Interested In Joining BRICS?
Amongst those interested countries is Zimbabwe. Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, the country’s defense minister, announced at the “World Majority for a Multipolar World “international inter-party forum with BRICS and partner countries held in Russia.
Other developing countries have also expressed interest in joining the BRICS alliance, looking for help in boosting their economies. Part of the BRICS mission is not just to dump the US dollar and battle the West economically, but to bring developing nations upward. By attracting these countries to improve their economies, the bloc is garnering more support to ultimately end the greenback as the leading global reserve for trade.
“BRICS attracts a diverse group of potential members because of its primary-driven shared desire to create a more equitable global landscape that many countries believe is currently biased against them,” says Paul Frimpong. Frimpong is the founder and executive director of the Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory. He adds that the BRICS’ expansion into the global south gives countries in the region a bigger chance at extending their influence in global affairs.
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The same concept would ring true for ASEAN nations, which have also expressed interest in joining BRICS. Currently, the list of countries interested in joining BRICS is long and consistently changing. With more nations each passing month showing interest in BRICS, the list of members could become much longer come October.