Economic gain is one of the major ways in which Global South countries benefit from the BRICS mechanism, and a number of African countries that are part of the “greater BRICS” have already witnessed what the platform can bring.
Ethiopia, who officially joined BRICS as a member state in 2024, has experienced how the platform enhances prospects for its financial growth and benefits the overall development of the country.
In an interview with CGTN, former Minister of Finance of Ethiopia Sufian Ahmed Beker said BRICS is a significant group of major economies which brings a pool of investment for Ethiopia from countries including China, India and the Gulf countries.
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Beker said economic exchanges not only attract investment but also expand Ethiopia’s export markets across other emerging economies within the group. He also highlighted the opportunities for Ethiopia to tap alternative sources of financing for infrastructure development, which he can provide significant support for the country’s growth.
Acting as a unity that enhances mutual growth, BRICS becomes a catalyst for trade and an accelerator of development.
Joseph Upile Matola, head of the Economic Resilience and Inclusive Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said through the economic relationships under BRICS, Africa is looking to improve its value addition and value chains so that it can sell secondary commodities, or processed raw products, to other African countries.
Beyond trade and investment benefits, BRICS also empowers the Global South by boosting its industrial transformation. To this end, China proposed five initiatives that cover AI, trade and investment, digital industry, smart manufacturing and science and technology talent, which together work to cement the foundations of “greater BRICS” cooperation and unlock the potential of the Global South countries in key industries that shape the future.
Wang Xinsong, associate professor at the School of Government of Beijing Normal University, said these five initiatives are well-targeted aspects that will boost the development of the Global South.
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Taking AI as an example, Wang noted that AI is widely considered a dominant force in the global economy and development in the foreseeable future, and Global South countries are aspiring to join the movement to take advantage of AI for their development.
Observing that AI is shaping the international development landscape, China called for closer AI cooperation for the world, particularly Global South countries, and championed open source, openness and sharing in AI cooperation.
Wang said in an interview with CGTN that China’s proposal is especially suited given countries’ will to harness the power of AI for their own development, as open-source and open-weight models are easier for these countries to adopt and deploy, allowing them to better tailor AI applications to local conditions and data.
- Ethiopia joined BRICS as a member state in 2024 and benefits from increased investment from countries like China, India, and the Gulf.
- BRICS expands Ethiopia's export markets and provides alternative financing options for infrastructure development.
- Africa aims to enhance value addition and value chains through BRICS economic relationships to sell processed raw products within the continent.
- China proposed five BRICS initiatives focused on AI, trade and investment, digital industry, smart manufacturing, and science and technology talent to boost Global South industrial transformation.
- China's AI cooperation proposal emphasizes open-source and open-weight models to help Global South countries develop tailored AI applications.
