South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday morning announced six new members to join BRICS, snubbing Nigeria.
Two African countries, Egypt and Ethiopia made the new membership list.
Current members of BRICS include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
According to President Ramaphosa, the XV Summit, having adopted the Johannesburg II Declaration on the guiding principles on the BRICS EXPANSION, have approved membership and invited the six countries to join.
They include Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the South african President, their membership takes effect from January 1, 2024.
Chinese President, Xi Jinping, said that ““the expansion is also a new starting point for BRICS cooperation and will bring new vigour to the BRICS cooperation mechanism and strengthen efforts for world peace and development.”