South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The BRICS group of nations has decided to invite six countries - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - to become new members of the bloc, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.

The debate over expanding the BRICS bloc, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has topped the agenda at a three-day summit in Johannesburg ending on Thursday.

24 August 2023; MEMO: The BRICS alliance invited six countries to join, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Argentina and Egypt.

BRICS is currently made up of five countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The new members would be brought in on 1 January 2024.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin took multiple shots at the West on the opening day of an economic summit in South Africa, using a prerecorded speech that was aired on giant screens Tuesday to rail at what he called “illegitimate sanctions” on his country and threaten to cut off Ukraine’s grain exports permanently.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa held closed-door discussions Wednesday on the possible expansion of their BRICS economic bloc, a move they’ve framed as a way to amplify the voice of developing nations, but which also serves the geopolitical interests of Beijing and Moscow.

A decision on whether to accept new members had been expected late Wednesday, the second day of a three-day BRICS summit in Johannesburg. But officials said that was looking unlikely and a declaration might be made on Thursday.

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Leaders of the BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - converged on Johannesburg on Tuesday for a summit where they will weigh expanding the bloc as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the West.

Heightened global tensions provoked by the Ukraine war and a growing rivalry between China and the United States have added urgency to a drive to strengthen the bloc, which has at times suffered from internal divisions and a lack of coherent vision.

CAPE TOWN, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- At 6:30 a.m. every morning in De Aar, a small town more than 750 km northeast of Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, Deswin Basson would stand at the door of his house in the cold wind, waiting for his colleagues to pick him up and drive him to work at a substation more than 20 km away.

Although getting up so early is not always fun, the 27-year-old local is full of enthusiasm every day. Deswin works at the substation of Longyuan South Africa Renewables (Pty) Ltd.'s (Longyuan SA) De Aar Wind Power Project.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Russia and China will look to gain more political and economic ground in the developing world at a summit in South Africa this week, when an expected joint dose of anti-West grumbling from them may take on a sharper edge with a formal move to bring Saudi Arabia closer.

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 11 (NNN-SANEWS) — It’s all systems go for the 15th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit, which will be held in Johannesburg later this month.

Taking place on Aug 22-24, government has indicated that it has concluded the BRICS outreach programmes for various sectors and communities.

JOHANNESBURG/SHANGHAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Hobbled by the impact of sanctions against founding shareholder Russia, the New Development Bank (NDB) set up by the BRICS countries needs to increase its local currency fundraising and lending, South Africa's finance minister told Reuters.

South Africa will host leaders of the other BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China - as the bloc aims to widen its influence at a Johannesburg summit later this month.

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- South Africa is ready to host the much-anticipated 15th BRICS summit, said Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor on Monday.

"President Ramaphosa has confirmed South Africa's readiness to host the 15th BRICS summit in person, in Sandton, Johannesburg. The president has therefore invited 67 leaders from Africa and the Global South to attend the BRICS-Africa outreach and BRICS Plus dialogues," Pandor said while briefing the media about the country's preparations for the summit, which will be held on Aug. 22-24.