With the current whirlwind of reawakening in Africa standing against neo-colonialism, BRICS is offering an opportunity for African countries to assert their sovereignty.
That should explain why the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, led a high-power delegation to represent President Paul Biya at the 5th BRICS Summit in South Africa.
The abbreviation of BRIC stands for the initials of the four founding member countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. When South Africa joined the group in 2010, it became known as BRICS.
With over 40 countries applying to join or indicating interest in its membership, it is taking the acronym BRICS+. Although it was founded on shared values, historical bonds of solidarity, and friendship, some commentators say “the bloc has become a political threat. It champions the interests of the broader global South and promotes a form of cooperation built on the principles of mutual respect, sovereign equality, inclusiveness, consensus,, and strengthened collaboration”.
South Africa, the smallest of the member in terms of economic clout and population, was the first beneficiary of an expansion of the bloc in 2010 when the grouping became known as BRICS.
Together, the countries account for more than 40% of the world’s population and a quarter of the global economy. Like the Commonwealth, it takes decisions by consensus. All the BRICS countries are part of the Group of 20 major economies.
According to South Africa’s Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor, the bloc’s dream is simply one of global integration and interconnectedness, particularly in the Global South.
Geopolitical commentators say the expansion of the group poses anxieties for the West, “particularly in the likely integration of Africa and other Global South regions, an idea frowned upon and challenged by imperial thought”.
The ongoing BRICS summit in South Africa has as theme: “BRICS and Africa: Partnering for Mutually Acceptable Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism”. It hints at a propitious future with a collective global GDP of approximately 31.5%, with the expectation to overtake that of the G7 by 50 percent in 2030, a position that the West fears would take global influence out of its grip.
In 2017, China floated the idea of BRICS+, for the expansion and transformation of BRICS into an inclusive platform that interacts and cooperates with any state, bloc, or region of the global economy.
Over 40 countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Algeria, Bolivia, Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Gabon and Kazakhstan, have expressed interest in joining the body, according to the 2023 summit documents.
BRICS is viewed both by allies and foes as an alternative to global geopolitics dominated by the Western powers. They hope more membership will unlock benefits, including development, finance, and increased trade and investment. Although the group is not a free trade bloc, it boasts of tapping into mutual trade benefits among members’ partnerships and collaboration with other regional blocs. It also prides itself of having established a policy bank, the New Development Bank, NDB, which provides alternative loan mechanisms from the World Bank and IMF structures as the two institutions are US-centric.
BRICS countries account for over 40% of the world’s population, but its members have less than 15% of the voting rights in the IMF and World Bank.
According to the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, the BRICS bank could be an alternative to the Bretton Woods institutions, given the expansion
of membership.
Although common currency is not on the agenda, there are already currency swap deals among members which would affect the value of the dollar as a
global currency.
Although there are many opportunities Cameroon could tap from membership, which is still on the drawing board, the use of the FCFA is surely not going to give it the full opportunities. That once more revokes the issue of a common currency within the Central African region, if Cameroon cannot have its own currency.
Will Yaounde then take advantage of the BRICS-driven wind of change in geopolitical and economic dynamics to dump the CFA franc?
Read full opinion in the Guardian Post Newspaper (the electronic version)
