adminA few years ago, the Brics grouping – Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa – had lost salience because three of its members were in severe economic difficulty. Brazil, Russia and South Africa are primarily natural resource exporters and were badly affected by the global commodity price bust of 2014.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has now given Brics a new geopolitical salience as the members and their respective allies respond to events.
In the emerging world order, there is also now increased demand to join Brics, in part as a countervailing power to “the west”.
Argentina, Saudi Arabia and lately, Ethiopia, have expressed strong interest in becoming members.
I have researched the political economy of globalisation in Africa over the last 30 years. I have specifically examined the scramble for Africa by the US and China, South Africa’s involvement in Brics, the nature of Brics engagement with Africa and market and resource access by Brics in Southern Africa.
It would be a major coup for Ethiopia if it were able to join the grouping as it would raise its global profile, allow it to interact and coordinate more closely with some of the major world powers and move the discourse beyond the recent civil war there, potentially enabling it to attract more investment.
Ethiopia has cited its key role in founding the African Union and other institutions, along with its national interest as grounds for seeking Brics membership. In my opinion, there are five key reasons why Ethiopia would want to join the grouping.
Deteriorating relations with western powers: Ethiopia has historically depended on substantial western support through aid and security cooperation. But its relations with the west have soured as a result of the civil war, in which human rights violations were reported.- The East African
Online Reporter