African nations re-iterate their request to join BRICS amid ongoing global political woes

The speaker of the ruling party of Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF stated on Wednesday that the Zimbabwean government would like to join the BRICS economic bloc. Christopher Mutsvangwa told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, “We made it clear that we would like to become a member of the BRICS,” as reported by RT.

The official went on to say that his nation is interested in creating alternatives to the SWIFT payment network, which is dominated by the West. According to him, BRICS could help with it. Mutsvangwa called BRICS a "new force in international relations" and expressed optimism for its further development.

BRICS alliance has received interest from "more than a dozen" countries: Lavrov

The five BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—represent about a quarter of global Economy and more than 40% of the world's population. The BRICS alliance has received interest from "more than a dozen" nations, according to Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, earlier this year.

Algiers, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe are among the countries showing interest in joining BRICS. 

SCO and BRICS partnership

The oil-rich Arab nations have also expressed interest in joining the BRICS and forging partnerships with the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is made up of India, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. This was stated by Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, to the state-affiliated TASS news agency last year.

Affirming Lavrov’s comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs, that includes India, have reached a consensus on the BRICS expansion process. “As the BRICS Chair this year, China actively supports the start of the BRICS expansion process and broadens 'BRICS Plus' cooperation,” Wenbin told a media briefing. He iterated that BRICS cooperation is “open and inclusive”. 

The prospect of establishing a unified currency is being conferred by the union of five significant rising economies. Pavel Knyazev, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador-at-Large and Sous-Sherpa of Russia in the BRICS, reportedly made the discovery in September of last year, according to Sputnik.