The BRICS summit is scheduled to be held on August 22, and BRICS leaders are expected to discuss, among other things, the issue of expanding BRICS membership.

Membership in the BRICS group is subject to the economic conditions that candidate countries must meet. Besides, BRICS members require candidate countries to grow by 5% or more per year.

Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal seeking alternatives in a multipolar world have expressed interest in joining BRICS. This accession required these countries to free themselves from the ties of dependence vis-à-vis the West and to forge new ties with other partners. Moreover, these countries may seek more investment from the BRICS, especially China, and trade relations.

Joining the BRICS could offer various opportunities, making it possible to multiply economic partnerships and stimulate investments with member countries. The BRICS group, which has nearly 40% of the world's population, 25% of world GDP, and 18% of international trade, therefore, offers many advantages, such as access to financing via the New Development Bank, created in 2014 and based in Shanghai, China.

Countries that would join the BRICS would benefit from more direct investment in their market, more trade, and more platforms for additional financing and borrowing on favorable terms. Furthermore, it provided companies with an unprecedented opportunity to access some of the largest markets in the world (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).

Image credit © by www.wam.ae, Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi.

There is also the ongoing Chinese project, the "Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)", which could benefit many countries in the South, in particular Morocco, because its economy is a little more modern than others on the continent. Also, China could benefit from Moroccan phosphate exports…win, win.

Moreover, on the political level, it owed the links of these acceding countries with heavyweights such as China, India and Russia and would serve to recognize these countries as rising middle powers on the international scene, thus playing a in mastering international trade and dealing with organizations that want to dominate the global economy.

Several countries of the South, having understood the importance of human capital and financial capital as the main drivers of sustainable industrialization, want to invest in science, technology and innovation in order to move away from the model of resource extraction. that characterizes most mineral-rich African countries and intensifies value chains to avoid the middle-income trap. These countries would then benefit from importing advanced technologies from China and India.

These new memberships in no way mean that these countries are diplomatically aligned with China and Russia to the detriment of their relations with the West.

Image credit © by Getty Image, Five countries constitute the "BRICS": Brazil,Russia,India,China,South Africa

With this new heavyweight, the BRICS, a paradigm shift is underway. Also, the impact of global shocks such as conflicts, climatic, food and energy crises, as well as the tensions accumulate, become a strong position of the countries of the South in the global geopolitical economy. The diversification of trade is the solution to reduce the vulnerability of States to the turbulence of global and geopolitical markets.

Joining the BRICS could help develop trade and gain access to an alternative financing system to the US dollar and the Swift international financial system. It will also be able to benefit from many economic advantages, in particular in the impulse of partnerships and investments on the basis of the win-win principle, and to penetrate the internal markets of the member countries of this great economic conglomerate.