BRICS Leaders
BRICS Leaders Flickr

South Africa officially took over the chairmanship of the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) on Sunday.

The South African Foreign Ministry spokesman told TASS, a Russian news agency, that the country would make sure to maintain the group's activities during its 2023 chairmanship.

According to the spokesman, South Africa's priorities would include "strengthening economic, political, social, and cultural cooperation between the member countries," TASS reported.

The spokesman further noted that the 15th BRICS summit would be hosted by South Africa in August 2023. The summit will promote economic growth and development, as well as social and cultural cohesion between member countries.

Foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, noted that South Africa intends to lead the group strategically in close cooperation with other member countries.

"South Africa will provide strategic leadership during the tenure as BRICS chair, in close consultation with other members, based on the chair's agenda and priorities and previously agreed-upon decisions," the South African foreign minister said, as per TASS.

The foreign ministers of the BRICS nations unanimously agreed that South Africa should lead the group in 2023 during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Business Standard Reported.

The South African chairmanship of the bloc will focus on continuing its work on sustainable development in the areas of the economy, environment, and social reforms - building on the successes of the country's chairmanship of the BRICS in 2018.

"That BRICS summit next year under the chairship of South Africa, the matter of expanding BRICS is going to be under serious consideration. Several countries are consistently making approaches to BRICS members, and we have given them the same answer that it will be discussed by the BRICS partners and thereafter a collective decision will be made," President Ramaphosa had said in his remarks in December 2022.

BRICS History

The first-ever meeting between the leaders of the BRIC countries took place in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2006. The group was then formalized as BRIC during a meeting of foreign ministers in New York City later that year. The first BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009.

The group formerly known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) was renamed BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) after South Africa was accepted as a full member at the BRIC Foreign Ministers' meeting in New York in September 2010.