A top South African official has claimed that over 40 countries are ready to join the BRICS international economic alliance.
BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – was formed by the world’s fastest-growing economies in 2009 as a rival to the dominant dollarized G7 bloc.
Before the formation of the alliance, Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill predicted in 2001 that the BRICS nations would collectively dominate the global economy by 2050.
According to Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador-at-large responsible for ties with the economic alliance and Asian countries, dozens of nations are now seeking to join BRICS.
The diplomat told reporters in Johannesburg that 22 countries have formally applied to join the group.
Sooklal added that “an equal number” of states have also “been informally asking about becoming BRICS members.”
Speaking with RT on Sunday, Sooklal described BRICS as an “inclusive” organization that has always been open to dialogue with the larger global community.
The group currently accounts for over 40 percent of the global population and nearly a quarter of the world’s GDP.
Sooklal said that BRICS does not distinguish between the Global North and Global South and is ready to talk to any country that “has the same vision for a more inclusive and equitable global order where we do not marginalize large parts of the world,” including many developing nations.
The diplomat went on to point out that while the United Nations has yet to embark on comprehensive reforms that would give emerging countries a greater voice, BRICS has charted its own path to remedy the situation.
However, he claims that the bloc “does not seek to become a dominant economic force.”
Instead, BRICS wants to have “a major influence in an inclusive manner to work for change,” he added.
“We don’t want a world where we have one or two global hegemons,” he said, explaining that such a distribution of power sows division in the global community.
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Sooklal had earlier said in comments to journalists that Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were among those countries looking to join the bloc.
South Africa will host the BRICS annual summit this year.
The summit will take place in Johannesburg from August 22-24.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent invitations to nearly 70 global leaders.
