Addis Ababa — Today, Ethiopia along with the other four new member countries, officially joined the BRICS, the emerging-markets bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

According to a statement issued by the BRICS today that Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have officially joined the bloc.

Ethiopia's bid to join the BRICS was endorsed last August 2023 during the 15th BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In his statement following the decision, Prime Minister Abiy said Ethiopia's endorsement to join the BRICS bloc will contribute a lot in realizing the South-South cooperation.

BRICS controls about 40 percent of the world population and an equivalent amount of the economy as the countries now have higher economic values than G-7.

Ethiopia's membership in the BRICS group is expected to bring significant benefits for its economic development, regional integration, and international cooperation.

The membership will have a lot of impact in terms of international trade and the main agenda is to transform the multi-lateral system into some kind of an equitable system where countries will deal with each other on a sovereign basis.

The BRICS countries would like to see multi-literalism developed to a greater degree as they represent a significant part of the world economy now. The BRICS countries are high producing countries and emerging economies.

BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It was formed in 2010 by the addition of South Africa to its predecessor called BRIC.

Now, its members have increased to 10 following the accession of Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).