BRICS Summit 2023 Begins In Johannesburg

Africa | Rest Of The World | South Africa August 22, 2023

BRICS Summit 2023 alias 15th BRICS Summit began at the Sandton Convention Center in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22, 2023. The summit is scheduled for August 22 - 24, 2023.

The annual summit of the global economic bloc is been attended by the leaders of bloc's member countries. The latter are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Leaders attending the summit physicaly are President Xi Jinping (China), President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil), Prime Minister Narendra Modi (India), and host President Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa). President Vladimir Putin (Russia) is attending virtually through video link. Physically, Russia is instead represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Invited to the summit are reportedly leaders from 67 other countries including 53 African countries.

According to some media reports, BRICS Summit 2023 is expected to focus on, among others, alternatives for challenging the current dominance of the US dollar in the global financial system, and possibility for expansion of the bloc to include more countries.

As regards expansion of BRICS, more than 40 countries are said to be interested in joining the bloc, with some 23 countries said to have formally applied to join. Countries that have made formal applications, include Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, and Bangladesh.

Currently, BRICS with a combined population of 3.21 billion, constutes to 41.5% of the global population. Also, BRICS has a combined GDP (nominal) of $28.06 trillion that constitutes to about 27% of the global GDP (nominal).

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