The BRICS bloc of emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- will hold its 15th summit in Johannesburg next week. Here's what you need to know.
South Africa will host this year's BRICS Summit from 22-24 August at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg after the country took up the one-year rotating chairmanship of the BRICS bloc in January.
The theme of the 2023 summit is: "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism." As it did when it hosted the BRICS Summit in 2018 and 2013, South Africa will include an outreach programme which will be attended by many African leaders.
Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill coined the BRIC acronym in 2001 to describe the economic potential and investment attractiveness of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The BRIC powers had their first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009. South Africa joined in 2010, making it BRICS.
The BRICS bloc accounts for more than 42% of the world's population, 30% of its territory, 23% of global GDP, and 18% of global trade. However, only about 6% of the total trade of the five BRICS countries is with each other.
South Africa is the smallest in the alliance in terms of population and economic weight.
This will be the first in-person BRICS summit since 2019. (Meetings took place virtually during the...
