Emerging powers meet for summit as rivals to the West

Ministers from more than a dozen countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, were in Cape Town yesterday for talks on establishing closer links with the Brics bloc of major emerging economies, as the group met with the intention of deepening ties and positioning itself as a counterweight to the West.

- SHWETA SHARMA

Brics – which for now consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is considering expansion, and even the possibility of a new, common currency for international trade as an alternative to the US dollar in an effort to avoid the impact of sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Once viewed as a loose association of disparate emerging economies, Brics has in recent years taken on a more concrete form, driven initially by China, and, since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, with added impetus from Russia.

The bloc was briefed by the New Development Bank, a Shanghai-based lender established by the Brics countries in 2015, about the potential introduction of alternatives to the currencies currently used for international trade, said Naledi Pandor, the foreign minister of host nation South Africa. Without directly mentioning Russia, she said the aim was “to ensure that we do not become victim to sanctions that have secondary effects on countries that have no involvement in issues that have led to those unilateral sanctions”.

The bloc’s joint statement after the summit, which concluded yesterday, was titled “The Cape of Good Hope”. “Ministers underscored the importance of encouraging the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions between Brics as well as their trading partners,” it said.