After all the fanfare and anticipation, punctuated by the Russian-Ukraine war, the G7 rivalry of China, and the furore between the US-South Africa over Lady R, a modestly expanded BRICS emerged, just like that, writes Chris Landsberg.
President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the media at the BRICS closing session on Thursday at the Sandton Convention Centre.
The plurilateral one is mixed and eclectic, driven in the main by ending political and economic attempts to become more autonomous and independent.Get 14 days free to read all our investigative and in-depth journalism. Thereafter you will be billed R75 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed.
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| Bigger BRICS: Has South Africa gained from building BRICS?South Africa's diplomacy was on show this week as the BRICS nations met at its 15th summit in the opulence of Africa's richest square mile, Sandton.
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Western powers warned to act soon or lose developing world to Russia and ChinaThe European Investment Bank president said this week's BRICS summit and the push to make the BRICS bank an alternative to established Western lenders underscored the need to increase lending.
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Brics Swells to 11 Members as Six More Nations JoinSouth Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that six more nations - Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - will become full members of Brics from January 1, 2024. President Ramaphosa said: "Leading up to the Summit, there was a wide-ranging Brics business programme aimed at attracting investment, promoting collaboration and showcasing opportunities within South Africa, Africa and Brics countries." The summit hosted by South Africa, has seen much criticism levelled against the West by Russia and China. The Brics Summit 2023, which is the first in-person summit since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019, ends today, August 24th.
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China, Russia Criticise West at Brics Summit in South AfricaChina and Russia used the second day of the Brics Summit of emerging economies to criticise the West, while also throwing their support behind the proposed expansion of what's seen by some as an alternative power bloc, Kate Bartlett writes for Voice of America. The leaders of Brazil, India, and China are all in South Africa - which is hosting the event - while Russian President Vladimir Putin is participating virtually to avoid arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant over war crimes in Ukraine. Via video link, Putin said the West's actions had led to the conflict in Ukraine by trying to "promote their hegemony," "exceptionalism," and policies of "neo-colonialism." For his part, Chinese leader Xi Jinping noted the world was undergoing major shifts and had entered a new period of "turbulence and transformation." He blamed countries that form "exclusive blocs" for the problems. In other Brics developments, business leaders Patrice Motsepe (founder and chair of JSE-listed African Rainbow) and Stavros Nicolaou (an executive at Aspen Pharmacare) have called on the Brics countries to boost their trading activity with each other and with African countries during panel discussions at the Brics summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. The South African government poured cold water on reports that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to disembark from his plane on Tuesday because he was not welcomed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, News24 reports. Officials say India knew in advance that a minister would be sent to welcome Modi, who travelled to Johannesburg for the Brics Summit. The Daily Maverick had earlier reported that Modi refused to get off his aircraft at Waterkloof Air Force Base because the South African government had only sent a Cabinet minister to officially welcome him.
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Host South Africa Gears Up For Brics Summit 2023The Brics nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will be meeting at the Brics summit hosted by South Africa on August 22-24, 2023. One of the main focus points will be the push for more trade among Brics nations in local currencies and reducing the reliance on the U.S. dollar. The planning for this summit was thrown into disarray after South Africa issued an invitation to Russian president, Vladimir Putin to attend in person. The International Criminal Court in The Hague soon thereafter issued an arrest warrant for Putin, alleging war crimes against Ukraine. Russia has been waging a war with Ukraine since February 24, 2022. South Africa has claimed neutrality on the war, but this did not remove the diplomatic headache should Putin arrive in South Africa. U.S. Senator Jim Risch tabled legislation in Congress, aimed at shifting the 2023 African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) forum that will be hosted by South Africa, to another country, because of South Africa's close association with Russia. AGOA allows South Africa duty free trade on the first 25% of its goods exported to the U.S., wrote Esther Rose for AllAfrica on July 13, 2023. Meanwhile, Putin has decided to attend the Brics summit via video link while sending Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to attend in his place.
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