BRICS influence is growing as two more countries reportedly applied to join the emerging nations bloc. Nigeria, which boasts the largest economy on the Africa continent and India’s neighbour, Pakistan have expressed keen interest in partnering with other emerging nations.
Bloomberg reports that Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, said his country hopes to join the group within two years. He also disclosed the country’s intention to join other beneficial groups with good and well-defined intentions.
“We need to belong to groups like BRICS, like the G-20 and all these other ones because if there’s a certain criterion, say the largest countries in terms of population and economy should belong, then why isn’t Nigeria part of it?” he said.
Indian publication The Hindu reported that Pakistan has also made a formal application.
“Yes, I can confirm that Pakistan has made a formal request to join BRICS, which we believe is an important grouping of developing countries,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her weekly press briefing.
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BRICS Plus
Member states, which originally consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, accepted applications from six other nations during the Johannesburg summit in August.
These included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran, who will formally join when Russia assumes the bloc’s chairmanship.
At the time, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as BRICS Chair, said the bloc would be accepting more applications in phases.
The BRICS group wants to promote economic cooperation and development among its members.
It has become a powerful economic bloc, accounting for more than 40% of the world population and 26% of the world economy.
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