23 Countries Want to Join BRICS

During a press conference on 7 August 2023, South Africa Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor reported that 23 countries have officially applied to join #BRICS.

The 23 countries in alphabetical order are Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Vietnam.

According to Minister Pandor, the high level of interest and geographical coverage confirm the status of #BRICS as one of the multilateral organizations that is most representative of the #GlobalSouth. Over many years, developing countries have been lamenting that their voices and priorities were not sufficiently heeded at Bretton Woods institutions. In that respect, the New Development Bank (NDB) could play a pivotal role in order to better cater to the needs of the #GlobalSouth.

With the original five members states of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the #BRICS bloc already accounts for 30% of the global GDP and 40% of the world population with 3.3 billion persons. If all 23 countries join, the expanded BRICS+ club will account for more than half of global #GDP and population.