Leaders of BRICS member states on Thursday, August 24 approved applications by Ethiopia, Egypt and 4 other countries to join the economic bloc.
Ethiopia and Egypt are usually considered economic rivals to Kenya due to various similarities in their economic abilities.
Other new BRICS members are Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“As the five BRICS members, we have reached agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process,” read part of BRICS statement.
South African President who is also the 2023 chairperson of BRICS, Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement during a closing session for the summit in Johannesburg.
“We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of #BRICS from 1 January 2024,” stated President Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa added that BRICS is an equal partnership of countries that have differing views but a shared vision for a better world.
Current BRICS members are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
