South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa has invited 69 countries to the BRICS Leaders Summit in Johannesburg later this month.
The invitees are extended to developing nations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Most of the invitees are from African countries. Ramaphosa has also invited countries from the Global South, including Israel, the Caribbean, Australia, and New Zealand.
How many countries will respond to the invitation, whether in person or virtually, is still unclear. But, should they accept Ramaphosa’s invitation, this will be the largest gathering in BRICS’ history.
BRICS leaders seem keen to have as many developing countries at the conference as possible, but the same cannot be said for Western powers.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed great interest in attending the conference but has been left off the guest list.
Four out of five BRICS leaders will attend the Summit in person. Embattled Russian President Vladimir Putin will send a delegation in his place as tensions between him and Western leaders continue to heighten.
As a Rome Statute signatory, South Africa is also under international and domestic obligation to enact the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for the Kremlin leader for war crimes in Ukraine.
BRICS Summit Agenda
Infrastructure development in Africa and other emerging nations is expected to be high on the summit’s agenda. The BRICS New Development Bank is funding a bloc-wide development plan focusing on infrastructure, industrial and technological development.
Unity and expansion of BRICS Plus pose a significant threat to the US dollar as the global currency. Consolidation of a BRICS-wide economic agenda could be the first step towards what is being called “de-Dollarisation”.
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Leaders are also expected to address the increasingly urgent problem of climate change and environmental damage. According to climatetrade.com, three of the top 5 creators of Carbon Dioxide emissions are BRICS countries, namely, China, India and Russia.
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