Nigeria has officially been admitted into the BRICS group of nations as a partner country in its bid to strengthen its economic ties with those countries.
Nigeria joined the bloc alongside Cuba and 11 other nations, further strengthening their economic ties with the intergovernmental group of nations at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, held from October 22 to 24, 2024.
The acronym BRICS represents the countries according to the alphabet. It includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The decision of the intergovernmental bloc to admit Nigeria may have been prompted by a significant surge in foreign capital inflows from BRICS nations, which rose by 189% in the first half of 2024, reaching $1.27 billion, compared to $438.72 million during the same period in 2023.
The 11 additional countries joining as partner nations include Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. However, these countries, including Nigeria, were added as partner countries and not full members.
A post on X (former Twitter) on Wednesday read, “BRICS officially added 13 new nations to the alliance as partner countries (not full members).”
In January 2024, the bloc granted full membership to Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. These four countries attended their first BRICS summit as full members at the 2024 gathering in Russia.
BRICS, initially formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) in 2009, welcomed South Africa as a member in 2010 and rebranded the alliance to BRICS.
The organisation’s core mission is to foster trade, investment, development, security, and cooperation among leading emerging market economies.
The theme of the 2024 summit was “Strengthening Multilateralism for Fair Global Development and Security,” marking the bloc’s sixteenth annual gathering and seeking to deepen economic integration with key emerging nations.
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, was reported to have said that Nigeria plans to become a member of the BRICS economic bloc in the next two years and join the G20 group of nations.
The Minister said that Nigeria was qualified to join organisations like the BRICS and G20 because of its economy and population size, which is a suitable criterion.
Recall that last year, Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, attended the BRICS summit in South Africa, where Egypt and Ethiopia were admitted as full members.