this presentation outlines the birth of BRICS,its objectives,how it benefits other African countries,its challenges and threat to the established organizations

1. BRICS

2. Conti…
• Started as BRIC -Coined by Jim O’Neil of Goldman Sachs in his
2001 paper entitled “Building Better Global Economic BRIC”.
• Represent the four rapidly developing countries of Federative
Republic of Brazil, Russian Federation, Republic of India and
the People’s Republic of China
• The motive was to symbolize the shift in global economic
power away from the developed G7 economies
• The main finding by Goldman Sachs was that BRIC would play
and increasing important role in the global economy looking at
the emerging dynamics

3. Conti…
• As such, political dialogue between the BRIC countries
began in New York in September 2006, as a side event
to the 61st UN General Assembly with a meeting of the
BRIC foreign ministers.
• BRIC Foreign Ministers at their meeting in New York on
21st September 2010 agreed that South Africa may be
invited to join BRIC
• The inclusion of South Africa into the group expanded
the acronym to BRICS in 2010 (John, 2012). This was
despite economists advice at the 2011 Investment
Outlook Summit held in December 2010 dismissing the
prospects of South Africa’s success.
(Arkhansgelskaya, 2012).

4. AIMS OF BRICS
• TRADE: Boost intra-BRICS trade in their local currencies to
increase trade cooperation and cope with the current
international financial crisis.
• EDUCATION: To improve professional development and
education amongst the BRICS countries.
• TECHNOLOGY: Promote the technological information
exchange among the member states.
• ECONOMY: To enhance inclusive economic growth that will
lead to an increase in the creation of jobs, fight against
poverty and accelerate the economic transformation of
members.
• PEACE AND SECURITY: Platform for the promotion of peace
and security which is a shared desire for all member countries.

5. The achievements of BRICS
• Each of the four founding BRIC countries have already seen
the tangible benefits of cooperation during the 10 years of
the grouping's formation in the form of rapid economic
growth and prosperity for their countries.
• Trade and investment ;Their membership acted as a
catalyst for more positive positioning in the global
marketplace amongst global investors and strategic
investment partners
• There is a Fast growth rate in intra-BRICS trade, Russia,
Brazil and South Africa supply commodities to China and
India. China is major exporter of manufactures to all the
other BRICS. When South Africa took up its seat as the fifth
member of BRICS in 2011, export increased.

6. Conti…
• Infrastructure and industrial development
BRICS has been making significant headway in infrastructure
development plans .E.g. China build ‘40 000 miles of
expressways, the world’s most extensive high speed rail
system, futuristic airport terminals and massive hydroelectric
dams
Research and development.
BRICS member states are closing the gap between them and G7
nations on scientific research, Innovation and education

7. Conti…
Food security.
Countries are promoting food security in their
territories through initiatives such as the creation of a
basic agricultural information exchange system in
BRICS countries, development of a general strategy for
ensuring access to food for the most vulnerable
section(s) of the population
Cultural exchange and tourism
The hosting of the soccer world cup by South Africa in
2010, Winter Olympics by Russia in 2014 and the
forthcoming 2014 world cup in Brasil.
http://thomsonreuters.com

8. Benefits to other African
countries
• Africa can benefit from the BRICS Bank through obtaining
loans that they can use to develop their countries hence boost
their economies.
• BRICS is connecting an undersea fibre optic cable system
which is meant to improve communication between BRICS
and the rest of the world. Africa will benefit from this cable
through improved communication.
• Africa can also benefit from free trade enjoyed by South Africa
in BRICS since they will in turn trade freely with South Africa
honouring the agreement they have in African Union and
SADC.

9. Challenges of BRICS
• India, Brazil and South Africa produce similar goods and
compete for access to the same market (Sotero, 2009).
• A lot of criticism has been expressed regarding the economic,
demographic and even territorial lag of South Africa from
other BRICS members (Arkhangelskaya, 2010).
• The challenge that is common to all the countries of BRICS
(except Russia) is that none of them are clearly identified and
respected to the full as regional representatives. e.g, South
Africa is challenged by Nigeria and Egypt in Africa.

10. Conti..
oIndia and China, the two most important members of BRICS, have
different political systems and different international political
preferences.
oThere is a preserved and unresolved territorial issue between India
and China.
oThough it is just a few years old, BRICS has not been able develop a
charter spelling out the broad vision of the association. The BRICS
should spell out in clear terms what their principles of global
governance, terrorism, human rights and environment are.
o“temporary necessity cannot be the basis of permanent friendship”
thus when the economic recession is over the need for BRICS may
diminish, leading either to internal conflict among the members or to
liquidation of the forum. www.asiapacific.anu.edu

11. Threat of BRICS to other
international organizations
• The proposed New Development Bank intends to offer loans
to countries in their original currencies, not in the US $ or the
Euro like the IMF & World Bank is doing which benefits the US
more.
• The fact that the BRICS are emerging economies means that
they are likely to claim great power status in the global system
long dominated by the west.
• Egypt, Mexico and Indonesia will be considered for inclusion
into the block in the near future.
www.orientalreview.org

12. Future Prospects for
BRICS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
GDP PROJECTIONS BY
2050
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
BRIC G7
128.344
66.042
GDP PROJECTIONS BY 2050 in
US$ trillions

13. Future Prospects for BRICS
• GDP of BRICS group may come up to the GDP of the G7
countries. This is likely to reach twenty to twenty-five Trillion
dollars. The economy of China is expected to outrun the US
economy and reach $129 trillion by 2050.
• create a self-administered currency reserve of base stock of
$100 billion for emergency situations.
• BRICS plans to cooperate in the following New areas: BRICS
Anti-corruption Cooperation, Energy, National Agencies
responsible for Drugs Control and BRICS public Diplomacy
Forum

14. Conti…
• Intends to create a Development Bank to give competition to
World Bank and IMF.
• Tourism amongst BRICS members is on constant growth
pattern. www.infoxin.com
• Government of SA is keen to open exclusive offices in other
member countries to promote tourism in South Africa.
• Aspire to Liberalize (relax) Visas by wrestling the issue of
individual visas for the citizens of the member countries.

15. conclusion
• The BRICS countries have turned out to be a source of
global economic development essential for future
generations. The centre of global economic activity is
shifting from industrialized nations in the west to
emerging economies in Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. BRICS countries will need to work together
closely to evolve strategies for the future. Cooperation
in a wide variety of issues like energy, food security,
and access to natural resources, climate change,
global governance, as well as international trade
policies is necessary. IF BRICS countries continues to
have a stake in each other's economy by increasing
trade and business relations among themselves, the
relationship will turn out to be precious Bricks for
reinforcement of the notion of a global village.