Nigeria has officially joined BRICS as a partner country, alongside 12 other nations, further strengthening its economic ties with the intergovernmental bloc. This announcement was made at the ongoing BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, held from October 22 to 24, 2024.
Nigeria’s inclusion comes on the heels of a significant surge in foreign capital inflows from BRICS nations, which rose by 189% in the first half of 2024, reaching $1.27 billion, compared to $438.72 million during the same period in 2023.
The 12 additional countries joining as partner nations include Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. These countries, including Nigeria, were added as partner countries and not full members.
A post on X (formerly Twitter) from the bloc on Wednesday read, “BRICS officially adds 13 new nations to the alliance as partner countries (not full members).” This follows the full membership earlier granted to Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates in January 2024. These four countries attended their first BRICS summit as full members at the 2024 gathering in Russia.
BRICS, initially formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) in 2009, welcomed South Africa as a member in 2010, rebranding the alliance to BRICS. The organization’s core mission is to foster trade, investment, development, security, and cooperation among leading emerging market economies.
The 2024 summit, themed “Strengthening Multilateralism for Fair Global Development and Security,” marks the bloc’s sixteenth annual gathering and seeks to deepen economic integration with key emerging nations.
What you should know: In November last year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, was reported to have said that Nigeria plans to become a member of the BRICS economic bloc in the next two years and join the G20 group of nations. The Minister noted that Nigeria meets the qualifications for joining organizations like BRICS and G20, emphasizing the size of its economy and population as suitable criteria.
Last year, Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, attended the BRICS summit in South Africa but didn’t push to become a member when the bloc admitted new members, including two from Africa – Ethiopia and Egypt. In September this year, Tuggar reiterated the country’s interest in joining BRICS, an influential economic bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Tuggar explained that while Nigeria has not yet formally applied to join BRICS, the country would do so “at the right time,” noting that joining the bloc is indeed on the radar of the Bola Tinubu administration.