BY GERALD IMRAY AND MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
Iran and Saudi Arabia are among six countries that will join the BRICS bloc of developing economies as new members from 2024, South Africa’s president said Thursday.
United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia are also set to join the bloc that is currently made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country presently chairs BRICS, made the announcement at a bloc summit in Johannesburg.
The five current members agreed at this week’s summit to expand the bloc after two days of talks, although Ramaphosa said the idea of expansion had been worked on for over a year.
It’s the second time that BRICS has decided to expand. The bloc was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa was added in 2010. The BRICS bloc currently represents around 40% of the world’s
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