BRICS offers vast opportunities to its members – NGO head

As more than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, such membership could be a great opportunity for them to become self-reliant in terms of local production and manufacturing, South Africa’s BRICS agribusiness chairperson, Slauzy Zodwa Mogami, said on Wednesday.

Talking to RT on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit, Mogami, who is also the CEO of Leading Ladies of Africa, a non-profit promoting women’s rights on the continent, said she has been working with BRICS since the group’s inception.

South Africa was the first African nation to join BRICS, and now, the whole African continent, which has more than 50 countries, could be coming aboard, she believes. Mogami noted that the majority of nations that applied for membership are from Africa.

“We all know that Africa possesses most of the world’s resources, raw materials, and everything. So now, BRICS promises to be a platform of partnership and that’s what makes it more exciting.” 

BRICS membership presents an opportunity to “[break] out of the limited scope” of the unipolar world order as it provides a platform to countries that represent more than 60% of the world’s GDP, Mogami stated.

“It also means that there could never be dominance of anybody feeling that they are more superior that the other. It is a partnership, it is different, it is unique and inclusive.” 

She noted that a lot of countries that produce raw materials don’t even trade in their own currency. “Why shouldn’t it trade and sell to the global market with its own local currency, [to benefit] its own country? At least BRICS comes with that fresh look of [acknowledging] the independence and sovereignty of countries and it’s long overdue.” 

Speaking on the possibility of BRICS trading in their own common currency, Mogami said, “it’s the reality if you have the potential of 40 countries coming together and trading together, it is only fair that those countries would be dominant in an economic sense and have a currency that is used by the majority.”

The 15th BRICS Summit wrapped up this week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Six new members will join BRICS after being approved on Thursday. Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will become full-fledged members starting in January 2024.

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