Published: August 8, 2023 7:01 pm
Author: RT
The bloc does not promote an anti-Western agenda despite seeking to expand membership, Pretoria’s International Relations Minister has said
South Africa is ready to host the 15th BRICS summit later this month, with 67 leaders from Africa and the Global South invited, International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday.
Pandor told the media that 34 countries have confirmed their participation in the gathering, which will take place in Johannesburg from August 22 to 24, and will focus on expanding membership and developing a BRICS currency to challenge the dominance of the US dollar.
The minister said the recognition of BRICS as a champion of the interests of the global south has drawn more nations to join, and emphasized that the bloc’s collective economic power should be a “catalyst for sustainable global economic recovery.”
She said the bloc has received membership applications from more than 20 nations, including Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran, which has long been sanctioned by the US, has also formally applied to join the five-nation economic group, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been invited to the August summit.
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On Monday, Pandor explained that President Cyril Ramaphosa invited Iran with “consensus support” from other BRICS leaders.
“This is not by any means an intention to build some form of bloc that is anti-Western,” she said, adding that “South Africa’s trading partners in the West are very important” to the country’s “economic progress.”
