Ethiopia and four other countries were on January 1 confirmed as BRICS members, Taarifa has learned. Ethiopia’s membership in the bloc took effect on Monday.
The five countries; Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, their inclusion into the bloc was agreed to by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa at the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa.
The bloc was originally founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who takes over the rotating chairmanship of BRICS in 2024, says, the bloc seeks “strengthening multilateralism for equitable global development and security.”
Putin argues that a growing number of countries are seeking alternatives to the US-led “rules-based order” and prefer to be guided by their own interests and those of their partners.
With these five new members the bloc’s economic and political power has expanded thus representing a combined population of over 2.5 billion and a collective GDP of over U$16 trillion.
