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BRICS Expands Threatening West’s Dominance

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

CAPE TOWN (Worthy News) – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, and Iran are among 19 nations seeking to join the BRICS group, which may outpace the global role of leading Western economies within five years, officials confirmed.

Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador to BRICS, said that the emerging market bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa would discuss its expansion at a June 2-3 in Cape Town, the capital.

“Thirteen countries have formally requested to join, while six others have informally requested. We receive requests to join every day,” Sooklal added in published remarks.

News about the expansion came as figures released this week show that the BRICS group will increase its share of the global economy to nearly 35 percent by 2028.

The Western Group of Seven Nations (G7), comprising the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, was the most advanced economic bloc of countries on the planet.

A report by the financial news agency Bloomberg indicated that in 2020, the contribution of the G7 to global economic growth was still equal, but the performance of the Western countries has since been declining.

By 2028, the G7’s contribution to the world economy is predicted to decrease to 27.8 percent, according to financial records.

GLOBAL INFLUENCE

Already this year, BRICS nations will add 32.1 percent of the growth in the world economy, while the G7 only contributes 29.9 percent, the International Monetary Fund suggested.

BRICS’ rapidly increasing global financial influence comes after China launched discussions on expansion when it chaired the BRICS group last year.

Both China and Russia seek to build more diplomatic influence to counter the dominance of developed countries such as the United States in the United Nations.

They already announced plans to ditch the U.S. dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency in trade and have also launched digital currency initiatives.

However, the proposed BRICS expansion has reportedly raised concerns among other members that their influence may diminish if Beijing’s close allies are accepted.

China’s Gross Domestic Product is more than double the combined size of the other four BRICS members, Bloomberg reported.

Expanding BRICS with more than a dozen countries would mark a milestone for the
group: Since its formation in 2006, the BRIC group added only one new member, South Africa, in 2010.