by MTHULISI SIBANDA
Africa Editor
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – BESIDES the fact that most of the six new nations incepted into the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) bloc are struggling economically, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are interesting additions.
This is because they are massively in-demand trading partners that hold a large proportion of the world’s oil.
That is according to Harry Scherzer, the Chief Executive Officer of Future Forex, post the BRICS Summit that was held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“In addition to being an in-demand trading partner, Saudi Arabia’s inclusion is particularly interesting because of its strong allegiances with America when BRICS has typically been quite anti-the-West because the West controls global trade,” the executive said.
He believes that is largely why the BRICS nations have come together, to show that they can also make a contribution to world trade.
“And so Saudi Arabia seems to have a foot in both camps here, which could definitely be a good thing for them, but also for BRICS in general,” Scherzer said.
“In terms of decision-making, we’ve already seen how hard making decisions was with only five nations, having six more will mean that decision-making will be even slower, if anything gets decided at all,” he added.
“So perhaps this is more of a symbolic act for these nations to show that they are sick of the West’s control over global trade. And perhaps the symbolism is why BRICS have been so open to these other countries joining.”
In the United Arab Emirates, there is elation after the successful application to join BRICS.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, said this development formed part of the administration’s commitment to promoting constructive dialogue through active platforms that represent developing and emerging economies.
It builds on the country’s focus on long-term economic prosperity and maintaining balanced strategic and economic relations, including with international organizations.
“The UAE has consistently championed the value of multilateralism in supporting peace, security and development globally,” Al Nahyan said.
Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran have also been incorporated into BRICS.
The membership of the six nations is effective January 1, 2024.
– CAJ News