Nigeria has officially joined BRICS as a partner country, alongside 12 other nations, further strengthening its economic ties with the intergovernmental bloc. This announcement was made during the ongoing BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, which is being held from October 22 to 24, 2024.
Nigeria’s inclusion comes in the wake of a significant surge in foreign capital inflows from BRICS nations, which rose by 189% in the first half of 2024, reaching $1.27 billion compared to $438.72 million during the same period in 2023. The 12 additional countries joining as partner nations include Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
It is important to note that these countries, including Nigeria, were added as partner countries and not full members. A post on X (formerly Twitter) from the bloc on Wednesday stated, “BRICS officially adds 13 new nations to the alliance as partner countries (not full members).” This announcement follows the full membership granted to Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates in January 2024. These four countries participated in their first BRICS summit as full members at the 2024 gathering in Russia. BRICS, originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) in 2009, welcomed South Africa as a member in 2010, rebranding the alliance to BRICS. The organization’s core mission is to foster trade, investment, development, security, and cooperation among leading emerging market economies. The 2024 summit, themed “Strengthening Multilateralism for Fair Global Development and Security,” marks the bloc’s sixteenth annual gathering and aims to deepen economic integration with key emerging nations.
In November of last year, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, indicated that Nigeria plans to become a member of the BRICS economic bloc within the next two years and join the G20 group of nations. He highlighted that Nigeria meets the qualifications for joining organizations like BRICS and G20, noting that the size of its economy and population are suitable criteria.
Last year, Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, attended the BRICS summit in South Africa but did not formally pursue membership when the bloc admitted new members, including Ethiopia and Egypt.
In September of this year, Minister Tuggar reiterated Nigeria’s interest in joining BRICS, an influential economic bloc comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. He explained that while Nigeria has not yet formally applied to join BRICS, the country intends to do so “at the right time.” He emphasized that joining the bloc is indeed on the radar of the Bola Tinubu administration.