27 Jul 2018

President Mokgweetsi Masisi is in Johannesburg, South Africa attending the tenth annual BRICS summit ending today (July 27).

Botswana is not a member of BRICS but the president has been invited to attend the summit.

The summit is attended by the heads of state and government of the five member states Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The theme of this year’s summit is 'BRICS in Africa: collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution'.  

BRICS leaders are expected to discuss "global hotspot issues, international peace and security, global governance, trade issues during the restricted session".

BRICS is the acronym coined by British Economist Jim O’Neill representing the five major emerging national economies.

The first summit of the BRICS countries was held in June 2009 at Yekaterinburg, Russia though it did not originally include South Africa.

BRIC became a formal institution the following year aimed at facilitating global political and economic transformation.

South Africa officially joined in 2011 and this is the second time the country is hosting after the 2013 summit.

The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs and all are members of G20. Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits.

China hosted the 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen in September 2017.

Leaders of other African countries and institutions are also attending the summit as part of BRICS’ ongoing outreach programme. ENDS