BRICS chair and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that six countries will become their allies effective from January 2024. Argentina, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates have all been invited to become members of BRICS. Currently, BRICS consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

15TH BRICS SUMMIT

Ramaphosa was speaking during his closing remarks of the BRICS Summit which began on Tuesday and ended today at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Ramaphosa said, "We have decided to invite the six countries to become full members of BRICS. The membership will take effect from 1 January 2024. We value the interest of other countries in building a partnership with BRICS. We have tasked our foreign ministers to further develop the BRICS partner country model and a list of prospective partner countries and report by the next summit." 

GROUP EXPANSION

The key point of the 15th summit agenda was the group’s expansion. Ramaphosa hinted at the possibility of future additions. Putin was unable to attend in person, likely on account of an International Criminal Court warrant that would have obliged South Africa an ICC signatory to proceed with his arrest. "BRICS is a diverse group of nations. It is an equal partnership of countries that have differing views but a shared vision for a better world. As the five BRICS members, we have reached agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures of the BRICS expansion process," said Ramaphosa. More than 20 countries have formally applied for BRICS membership, including the six that Ramaphosa said were invited. Other major African players, such as Nigeria and Ghana, have expressed informal interest. In closing, Putin said he thanked Ramaphosa’s unique diplomatic mastery as they negotiated all the positions, especially when it comes to BRICS expansion, noting the talks proved to be challenging work.