The highly anticipated XV BRICS Johannesburg summit, the first in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic, held in the midst of a very polarised world, displayed more internal cohesion than was expected, given the trust deficit between New Delhi and Beijing. Despite differences over expansion, India and China exhibited a willingness to strengthen BRICS’s global governance circuit as a just forum for trade and regulatory policy. The five BRICS nations also announced the full admission of six new countries – Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE.
About 50 other heads of state and government attended the summit, underscoring the appeal of BRICS, which represents at its core the aspirations of developing countries for a greater role in the global financial system. […]
The New Development Bank (NMD or the BRICS Bank), is arguably the most concrete success of the grouping, with a well-designed governance system. If one compares the BRICS Bank’s cumulative disbursements of $14.6 billion by the end of 2021, to the $60 billion disbursed by World Bank in 2021, the NDB’s lending programmes are minuscule. Nevertheless, the central banks of BRICS nations seem ready to let go of the conservatism that has held back the BRICS’s lending potential. NDB started expanding its membership in September 2021 with the admission of Bangladesh, the UAE and Uruguay; subsequently, Egypt was admitted as a new member. The inclusion of Saudi Arabia as the ninth member would strengthen BRICS’s funding options, representing another deep-pocketed shareholder as the NDB assesses its ability to mobilise funds. Läs artikel