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second fastest growing economy after Asia.
They also emphasised the need to deepen political and economic co-operation between member states.
The ministers who were speaking during a presentation by South African Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said while Africa was experiencing a boom in mineral exploration and agriculture, the focus of African leaders was now on value addition.
“We are also developing a service industry that requires technology and the upgrading of our Information Communication Technologies,” he said.
He added that as part of efforts to build capacity, African leaders in their regional economic blocks were increasingly moving towards integration through Free Trade areas on an inter-regional basis initially and thereafter progress to inter-continental integration.
“Individual African countries or regional blocks do not present a lot of opportunities for BRICS but it is only when these blocs are integrated that they present so much opportunity for BRICS,” he said.
He added that South Africa was well-positioned as a gateway of BRICS nations into Africa and in this regard it was investing US$300 billion to upgrade its infrastructure, ports, road and rail to increase their capacity of handling inbound and outbound cargo into the Southern Africa region.
He, however, indicated that Africa was not only looking at increasing trade but also building its production capacity and creating jobs.
India’s Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma said Africa was a critical partner for BRICS nations.
“For us our history and that of various African nations is intertwined due to the similar struggles and challenges that we have gone through. As a nation we have taken a deliberate approach to engage African nations as equal partners,” he said.
In this regard he said India was actively engaging African countries through the India-Africa conclave that is held annually. In addition the minister said they were also rolling out various projects in Africa as well as offering training opportunities to Africans.
Russia’s Minister for Economic Development Andrei Belousov said there was need to create new synergies to aid continued growth within BRICS nations.
The Brazilian Development Industry and Foreign Trade minister Fernando Pimentel said the African continent presented a lot of opportunities for BRICS nations which should be exploited through co-operation with African nations.
The Chinese deputy Minister of Commerce Chen Jian made four critical proposals on how BRICS nation can engage Africa. He said there was need to formulate policies that promote trade and investment with Africa as well as protect the interest of countries involved.
Apart from the deliberations there are also indications that South African President Jacob Zuma and his BRICS counterparts are meeting several African heads of state as part of the process to foster increased trade and investment between the BRICS and Africa.
Meanwhile, BRICS Heads of State are tomorrow expected to launch the BRICS Business Council that will be made up of representatives of BRICS business organisations that are represented here.
The purpose of the council is to provide the business perspective to BRICS leaders and South Africa by virtue of being the host of the current summit will chair the council until the next meeting.
Different representatives of the BRICS business community who spoke during the business meeting hailed the formation of the business council as a positive development that will help to strengthen growth within BRICS.
In addition the leaders are also expected to launch the BRICS Development bank, which is the BRICS answer to dependence on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank funding.
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Neren Rau said that it was critical that the bank be situated in Africa which needs the bank the most.
“We have infrastructure projects that need a lot of funding and if the bank is in South Africa it will put Africa in a good position to access funding for different projects,” he said.
The fifth BRICS summit, which ends tommorow is the last in the first round of summits that started in Russia four years ago.
The summits are rotated among BRICS nations every year.
Online Reporter