Thirteen nations, including Nigeria, have joined BRICS as partner countries.
The announcement was made during the BRICS summit, held in Kazan, Russia, from October 22 to 24, 2024.
The thirteen partner countries countries are Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
The Bloc confirmed the list of partner countries on Thursday in a post on X.
Partner countries means the new countries are not full members of the bloc yet.
The post reads, “BRICS officially adds 13 new nations to the alliance as partner countries (not full members).”
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Eche Abu-Obe also confirmed to The PUNCH that Nigeria has joined BRICS as a partner.
“It is true that Nigeria joined BRICS as a partner,” he said.
Founded in June, 2009, BRICS, originally an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, and China, expanded in 2010 to include South Africa, thus forming BRICS.
The bloc later expanded to include countries like Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates as full members earlier in 2024, all of whom attended this year’s summit as full participants.
The aim of the bloc is to foster trade, investment, development, security, and cooperation among leading emerging market economies.
