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Saudi Arabia and UAE among five new Brics members

By Pramod Kumar
Soldiers walk past the Sandton Convention Centre, north of Johannesburg, which will host the Brics summit Reuters/James Oatway
The founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa invited six other nations to become part of their group in August

The membership of the Brics bloc will double with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran set to formally join on January 1, Bloomberg reported, citing South Africa’s envoy to the bloc Anil Sooklal.

The founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa invited six other nations to become part of their group in August.

Argentina, however, declined the invitation after President Javier Milei, who took office this month, reversed his predecessor’s membership bid.

The five invitees sent senior-level representatives to a Brics sherpa meeting in Durban, South Africa, earlier this month and fully participated in the gathering, “a clear indication that they have accepted the invitation” to join, Sooklal said.

The new members will also send officials to a sherpa meeting in Moscow on January 30, he added.

The addition of six new countries to the Brics bloc – including some of the world’s largest oil exporters – is likely to expedite the decline in the US dollar’s prominence in global trade, Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial, said in August.

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