BRICS expansion & the new development banks
BRICS from 2009 to the 2024 Johannesburg-mandated expansion, plus the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement as alternative financial architecture.
From acronym to bloc
The term "BRIC" was coined by Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs in his November 2001 paper "Building Better Global Economic BRICs," identifying Brazil, Russia, India and China as the high-growth economies that would reshape the global economy by 2050. The grouping became a diplomatic reality only later: foreign ministers first met on the UN General Assembly margins in September 2006, and the first formal BRIC summit convened at Yekaterinburg, Russia, on 16 June 2009. South Africa joined at the invitation extended in December 2010, attending its first summit at Sanya, China, in April 2011, converting BRIC into BRICS.
The 2023 Johannesburg expansion
For over a decade the bloc held at five members. The decisive enlargement came at the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, 22-24 August 2023, where leaders issued the Johannesburg II Declaration inviting six states to join: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with effect from 1 January 2024. The outcome was uneven. Argentina, under President Javier Milei elected in November 2023, formally declined the invitation in a December 2023 letter. Saudi Arabia accepted in principle but deferred formal accession. Consequently, the working membership from 2024 added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE. Indonesia subsequently joined as a full member in January 2025, confirmed at the Kazan-mandated process, making it the first Southeast Asian member.
A partner-country tier
The 16th Summit at Kazan, Russia, 22-24 October 2024, chaired by Vladimir Putin, created a new "partner country" category short of full membership. States including Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam were associated through this tier. The Kazan Declaration also pressed the de-dollarisation agenda, mandating study of a cross-border payments initiative ("BRICS Pay") and the BRICS Clear settlement infrastructure, though leaders stopped short of endorsing a common currency.
Why the bloc matters geopolitically
Post-expansion, BRICS members account for roughly 45% of the world's population and, on a purchasing-power-parity basis, surpass the G7's share of global GDP. The inclusion of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran concentrates within one grouping a dominant share of world oil and gas reserves, giving the bloc latent leverage over energy pricing and settlement currencies. Yet BRICS remains an informal grouping: it has no charter, no permanent secretariat and operates by consensus, which is both its flexibility and its structural weakness. The India-China rivalry, Russia's post-2022 isolation, and the divergent interests of energy exporters versus importers limit the bloc's capacity for binding collective action.