It’s all systems go as South Africa hosts for the third time

Maryanne Isaac

NATIONAL and international interest will be on South Africa as the country hosts the 15th BRICS Summit comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in Johannesburg today.

South Africa will welcome heads of state, government officials, state-owned companies and private sector businesses from BRICS member states and delegates from visiting countries from August 22 to 24.

While it is South Africa’s third time as hosts, this is the first BRICS summit to be held in person since the Covid-19 pandemic and global travel restrictions.

Together, BRICS constitutes about 42% of the world’s population, 27% of global GDP and around 20% of international trade – making this summit of key international interest.

BRICS ranks among the more important multilateral groupings and began in 2006 as a collective of four countries – Brazil, Rus- sia, India and China. Initially named “BRIC”, the multilateral gathering of four emerging economies seemed set to dominate the world economy by 2050, with the first BRIC summit held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009.

The theme for this year’s summit is “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism”. It reflects South Africa’s vision of global leadership addressing the needs and concerns of the majority of the world, and inclusion of the Global South in multilateral systems. In addition, there is a focus on building and strengthening partnership between Africa and BRICS, with exploration into opportunities in the African continental free trade area. the Summit is expected to boost the local economy and tourism, with the Gauteng tourism Authority (GtA) lauding it as a significant opportunity to create jobs, and boost tourism and trade investment revenue for the province. the formal sessions of this important gathering are expected to be spread across the major economic and business nodes of the city region including Sandton City, Gallagher Convention Centre, Birchwood and Montecasino, among others.

BRIC increased its footprint by inviting South Africa to join; giving the group its present name – BRICS. South Africa participated for the first time in the third summit in April 2011.

As BRICS continues to attract global attention with plans to expand and drive a more balanced global order, more than 40 countries have expressed their interest in joining including Saudi Arabia, Iran, united Arab Emirates, Argentina, Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia.

“this bodes well for the visitor economy and business events sector in the province, as these types of high-profile events generate much-needed jobs and tourism revenue into the economy,” said the GtA in a statement. this will be followed by the BRICS Leaders Retreat - a signature event for South Africa as BRICS chair. Leaders will meet at a private venue for an unscripted discussion of contemporary issues of importance, with no set agenda the eGoli Declaration is expected to be adopted as the main outcome document of the 2023 BRICS Leaders’ Summit. the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa brings African heads of state and government officials together with about 40 countries from across the world – from Argentina to Kazakhstan – eager to join the multilateral grouping.

According to reports from Statistics South Africa, the summit comes at a time when the country has shown an impressive 46.5% rise in foreign tourist arrivals, when comparing June 2023 to the same period last year. Moreover, the stats show that business travellers tend to stay longer and spend more, with African travellers leading the pack.

“It is for this reason that the GtA ... is pulling out all the stops to ensure an excellent showcase of Gauteng’s best attractions to global and local visitors alike.

“For the GtA and many businesses in the province that rely on tourism activities and increased visitors into the province, the summit is not only about the BRICS delegates who will be here but also potentially future visits from repeat visitors once they have tasted the unique attractions that Gauteng has to offer,” the authority said.

According to details released by Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), the first event on the BRICS leaders’ programme is the BRICS Business Forum Leaders Dialogue taking place IN the afternoon of tuesday, August 22.

Day two of the Summit will start with a closed plenary, followed by an open plenary session. t he BRICS leaders will deliver national statements, followed by reports by the President of the New Development Bank, the South African Chair of the BRICS Business Council, and the South African Chair of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance.

GCIS added that the Summit would not be the final event for the country as host of BRICS; South Africa will continue its programme of mutually beneficial co-operation until the end of 2023.

15th BRICS summit key agendas

BRICS countries represent more than 40% of the global population and an estimated 30% of its GDP. China is expected to overtake the United States as early as 2035 as the world’s largest economy. In addition, many sovereign states are eager to establish themselves for a de-dollarised future with many countries around the world eager to join BRICS.

BRICS members will come together to discuss and agree on a suitable framework and criteria for accepting new members. This is one anticipated outcome of the BRICS summit.

Other possible agenda items will include trade and skills development as well as South Africa’s desire to collaborate on vaccine manufacturing and green hydrogen.

What is BRICS and its purpose?

The acronym BRICS refers to a geo-economic group of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS formation was largely driven by a desire to increase co-operation and collaboration among these powerhouse countries with a focus on economic, political and global governance issues.

NEW development Bank or BRICS Bank

The multilateral grouping is also expected to discuss how to boost local currency fundraising and lending within the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as BRICS bank. While the NDB, which was established in 2015, is still looking at the potential use of alternative currencies, there will be no talk about a common BRICS currency during the summit.

Who is attending the 15th BRICS summit in South Africa?

Among the attendees will be the BRICS heads of state – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend in person; however, he is represented by Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Some 50 other leaders who are not BRICS members – among them Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo –have confirmed they will attend the talks.

Countries eager to join BRICS

Reports suggest that 40 countries have expressed their interest to join BRICS, while 23 countries have formally applied – including Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Thailand, Cuba, Egypt, Nigeria.