MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. Africa is one of the key areas for the development of BRICS over the coming decades, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.
"The African direction is not merely an important part of the agenda, but one of the primary vectors for the development of BRICS over the coming decades," he said.
"Relevant cooperation frameworks with African countries have been defined across a range of areas, such as the creation of an informal BRICS cooperation platform involving African diamond-producing nations. We are also moving toward the establishment of a BRICS grain exchange, a direct response to the continent’s needs, and are expanding Africa’s representation within the BRICS New Development Bank. In addition to South Africa, one of the bank’s founding members, Egypt and Algeria have also joined it in recent years," Ryabkov added.
"Further increase in the number of the New Development Bank’s shareholders by adding African nations could help to further diversify its portfolio of investment projects, including by extending into the agricultural sector," he noted.
BRICS was established in 2006, while South Africa joined its original members (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) in 2011. Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia joined the group on January 1, 2024, followed by Indonesia on January 6, 2025. Moreover, since the beginning of last year, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan officially attained the status of its partners, with Nigeria having joined on January 17 and Vietnam on June 14.