BRICS: An alliance for new world order

By George Opeyemi

Jim O’ Neill, the Chief economist of the multinational investment bank, Goldman Sachs, in 2001 coined the acronym BRIC, which initially stood for Brazil, Russia, Indian and China. At the time, the four countries were reported to have sustained rates of high economic growth and the acronym stood for economic hope about the future of these nations.

Many dismissed BRIC then as just Goldman Sachs’ marketing strategy to encourage investors. But what may have started as a marketing ploy has grown now into a forum for inter-governmental co-operation similar to the G7, the informal forum of heads of state of the world’s most advanced economies founded in 1975. Germany , France , Britain , Italy, Japan, Canada and the US are members, as the European Union.

In 2009, the four nations of BRIC had their first summit in Russia. The following year, South Africa was invited to join the group, adding the “S” to BRIC to become BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa]. It is today a modern interstate association whose goal is to create and support mutually beneficial partnership to ensure the financial and social stability of the participating nations.

Within the framework of BRICS, integration ties between national economies are developing, mutual trade is being supported , and favourable conditions for investors are being created. All these make the economies of the countries even more stable in the face of external financial and other economic shocks.

Based on the data of the international monetary fund (IMF), Bloomberg, the high – tech , marketmoving , data-driven, and cross-platform, information Company designed to solve global problems , said that by 2028 the BRICS countries will have a share in global economic growth of more than 33% , and the G7 countries – less than 28% . For 17 years BRICS have been demonstrating steady economic growth and becoming a pillar of support in the modern world.

In 2014, with $ 50 billion in seed money, the BRICS nations launched the New evelopment Bank as an alternative to the World Bank and the IMF. In addition, they created a liquidity mechanism called the Contingent Reserve Arrangement to support members struggling with payments. These offers were not only attractive to BRICS countries but to many other developing and emerging economics that have had painful experience with World Bank’s structural adjustment programs and IMF austerity measures.

It is clear that the economic potential of each of the BRICS countries can be realized with the support of the National Development Bank, which previously had approved the financing of infrastructural projects of participating countries to the tune of $ 87 million.

This is why the number of developing countries interested in joining BRICS is increasing. Observer countries positively assess the prospects for cooperation and participation in the organization as they recognize the growing influence of BRICS, especially in the current geopolitical situation.

The formats of cooperation with BRICS vary depending on the wishes of the interested parties. Such formats as ‘’ BRICS outreach’’ (Bricks in Africa working towards the realization of African