The three-day annual meeting of major developing countries in Johannesburg has been dominated by discussions on growth.
South Africa's Johannesburg Area - On the last day of a summit of the organisation that views itself as a counterweight to Western powers, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed that Saudi Arabia and Iran are two of the six nations that will join BRICS as new members next year.
During the three-day annual summit held in Johannesburg this week, the group comprising China, Brazil, South Africa, Russia, and India—five major emerging economies that reach decisions by consensus—agreed on "the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process," according to a statement released by Ramaphosa on Thursday.
During the first phase, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates will become full members of the BRICS along with Saudi Arabia in January 2024. There will be more stages after this.
President of China Xi Jinping declared, "This membership expansion is historic."
In addition, the growth marks a fresh beginning for BRICS collaboration. It would further fortify the push for global peace and prosperity and give the BRICS cooperation mechanism fresh life.
The president of Iran's top advisor praised the nation's admittance to the alliance on Thursday.
As per Mohammad Jamshidi's post on X (formerly known as Twitter), "Permanent membership in the group of global emerging economies is considered a historic development and a strategic success for the foreign policy of the Islamic republic."
"A great moment" for Ethiopia, according to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, was praised.
Ethiopia is prepared to work with everyone to create a successful and inclusive global order, Abiy said on Twitter.
Following a consensus at the summit, the new members were invited this week, according to Ramaphosa, who noted that the core group of five BRICS nations had been debating the topic of expansion for more than a year.
As part of its strategy to gain power and transform international governance into a “multipolar” system that prioritises the concerns of the Global South, the organisation is expanding.
The group now includes the first representation of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with the addition of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Egypt. Member Brazil actively supported Argentina's membership.
Russia and China, who are facing opposition from Western countries in the form of sanctions, were major proponents of expansion, according to experts.
Although leaders of the other BRICS nations were first less certain about the concept, they publicly endorsed it this week.
For fifteen years, rising economies have been formally grouped together. Experts told Al Jazeera that the BRICS leaders don't always agree on problems because of the dispersed nature of their political and social interests, and that the group hasn't accomplished much. Some claim that has kept them from growing into a more potent or successful force.
Before the summit, Danny Bradlow, an academic at the University of Pretoria's Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, told Al Jazeera, "What [BRICS is] trying to achieve is being opened up for more discussion." "They were discussing the reform of global economic governance or global governance in general, as long as it was only the five countries involved. Yet they haven't taken many action in that regard.
"It has not been easy to get agreements among the five," he stated. If they increase the number of members, it will just complicate matters. However, it also depends on the individuals they accept as new members.
Twenty-three nations formally sought to join BRICS, which already had representatives from almost 40 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the global economy. More than 40 countries had indicated interest in joining the group.
The conference, which ends on Thursday in South Africa, is being attended by about fifty additional heads of state and government.
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