BRICS Nations To Meet In South Africa Seeking To Blunt Western Dominance

Cat:

Related stories

Labour Party’s Crisis Deepens As Abure-Led Faction Rejects Nenadi Usman’s Leadership

• Says its Unlawful By Abiola Olawale  The ongoing leadership crisis...

Drama as ADC’s 2023 Presidential Candidate Kachikwu Says, Obi Plans to Exit Coalition 

By Abiola Olawale Dumebi Kachikwu, the 2023 presidential candidate of...

(VIDEO) Falana, Shehu Sani, Others Blast Kemi Badenoch Over Claim on Nigerian Citizenship Laws 

By Abiola Olawale  Prominent human rights activist and a Senior...

Kenneth Okonkwo Slams Okpebholo for Threatening Peter Obi

By Abiola Olawale Nollywood actor and politician, Kenneth Okonkwo has...

Babangida’s Son Accepts Tinubu’s Appointment as BoA Chairman, Denies Rejection Rumors

By Abiola Olawale  Mohammed Babangida, son of former Nigerian military...

By Agency Report

BRICS leaders meet in South Africa next week to discuss how to turn a loose club of nations accounting for a quarter of the global economy into a geopolitical force that can challenge the West’s dominance in world affairs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will not join leaders from Brazil, India, China and South Africa amid rifts over whether to expand the bloc to include dozens of “Global South” nations queuing up to join.

South Africa will host Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BRICS summit from August 22 to 24.

Spread over the globe and with economies that operate in vastly different ways, the main thing uniting the BRICS is scepticism about a world order they see as serving the interests of the United States and its rich-country allies who promote international norms they enforce but don’t always respect.

Few details have emerged about what they plan to discuss, but expansion is expected to be high on the agenda, as some 40 nations have shown interest in joining, either formally or informally, according to South Africa. They include Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Egypt.

“BRICS AND AFRICA”

China, seeking to expand its geopolitical influence as its tussles with the United States, wants to enlarge BRICS quickly, while Brazil is resisting expansion, fearing the already unwieldy club could see its stature diluted by it.

In a written response to Reuters questions, China’s foreign ministry said it “supports progress in expanding membership, and welcomes more like-minded partners to join the ‘BRICS family’ at an early date.”

Russia needs friends to counter its diplomatic isolation over Ukraine, and so is keen to bring in new members, as is its most important African ally, South Africa.

India is on the fence.

In a nod to the bloc’s African hosts, the theme of its 15th summit is “BRICS and Africa”, emphasising how the bloc can build ties with a continent increasingly becoming a theatre for competition between world powers.

South Africa’s foreign minister Naledi Pandor in a statement last week said BRICS nations wanted to show “global leadership in addressing the needs … of the majority of the world, namely … development and inclusion of the Global South in multilateral systems,” in a veiled swipe at Western dominance.

BRICS nations are keen to project themselves as alternative development partners to the West. China’s foreign ministry said BRICS sought to “reform global governance systems (to) increase the representation … of developing countries and emerging markets.”

The bloc’s New Development Bank (NDB) wants to de-dollarise finance and offer an alternative to the much-criticised Breton Woods institutions.

But it has approved only $33 billion of loans in nearly a decade — about a third of the amount the World Bank committed to disbursing just last year — and has recently been hobbled by sanctions on member Russia.

South African officials say talk of a BRICS currency, mooted by Brazil earlier this year as an alternative to dollar-dependence, is off the table.

With 40% of global population, the BRICS carbon-intensive nations also make up about the same share of greenhouse gas emissions. Officials in Brazil, China and South Africa said climate change may come up but indicated it wouldn’t be a priority.

BRICS countries blame rich nations for causing most global warming and want them to take on more of the burden of decarbonising the world’s energy supply. China was accused of blocking climate discussions at the G20, which it denied.

NB: Culled from Reuters

The New Diplomat
The New Diplomathttps://newdiplomatng.com/
At The New Diplomat, we stand for ethical journalism, press freedom, accountable Republic, and gender equity. That is why at The New Diplomat, we are committed to speaking truth to power, fostering a robust community of responsible journalism, and using high-quality polls, data, and surveys to engage the public with compelling narratives about political, business, socio-economic, environmental, and situational dynamics in Nigeria, Africa, and globally.

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

Latest stories

NDN
Latest News
Labour Party's Crisis Deepens As Abure-Led Faction Rejects Nenadi Usman’s LeadershipDrama as ADC’s 2023 Presidential Candidate Kachikwu Says, Obi Plans to Exit Coalition (VIDEO) Falana, Shehu Sani, Others Blast Kemi Badenoch Over Claim on Nigerian Citizenship Laws Kenneth Okonkwo Slams Okpebholo for Threatening Peter ObiBabangida's Son Accepts Tinubu’s Appointment as BoA Chairman, Denies Rejection RumorsAlleged N80.2bn Fraud: Court Throws Out Yahaya Bello's Travel Request"Stay Away from National Assembly," Senate warns NatashaAwujale’s burial and Aso Rock’s graveyard politics By Festus AdedayoThree deaths: Gainers and losers By Bolanle BOLAWOLE(VIDEO) Applause as Billionaire Business Icon, Leemon Ikpea's State-of-the-art Medical Facility in Ewatto, Nears Completion Before you accept his proposal, By Funke EgbemodeOil Price Volatility and Higher Valuations Cause M&A Activity to SlowDrama as UNIMAID ASUU Opposes Tinubu, Vows To Contest Renaming of Varsity After Late BuhariFalana Lashes Okpebholo, Warns: "Withdraw Your Statement, Apologize to Obi immediately."NDDC's N6 trillion: SERAP Drags Tinubu to Court Over Non-Release of Forensic Audit Report
X whatsapp