The group\u2019s expansion is bringing more developing nations to the global decision-making table, Raymond Matlala has told RT<\/p>\n
BRICS is giving countries of the Global South a stronger voice in international affairs as the group expands and pushes for a more multipolar system of global governance, Raymond Matlala has told RT.
\nFollowing the last week\u2019s 18th BRICS Summit, the founder and executive chairman of the South African BRICS Forum, said the addition of new members, partner states, and outreach countries is helping bring more developing nations into global decision-making.
\n\u201cBRICS has always been positioning itself to speak for the Global South,\u201d Matlala stressed. \u00a0
\nFormer South African National Assembly member and Pan-Africanist scholar Dr. Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala said that BRICS could help reshape international political and financial institutions from an African perspective. She noted the continent\u2019s vast mineral wealth remains tied to an economic system in which raw materials are largely exported for processing and value addition elsewhere.
\n\u201cEverything centers around what we call the petrodollar \u2013 the struggle for resources that Africa offers or raw minerals that Africa is offering, which the West direly needs for the finished product,\u201d she told RT.<\/p>\n
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Litchfield-Tshabalala argued that reducing dependence on the US dollar should form part of a broader effort to change the international financial system. \u201cWe need to break the hegemony of the dollar,\u201d she said, adding that African countries face unfavorable conditions when borrowing through traditional financial institutions.
\nShe also called on African countries to challenge their external debt burden, arguing that much of it is owed through institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, which she described as serving the interests of former colonial powers.<\/p>\n
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Litchfield-Tshabalala said BRICS offers developing countries an opportunity to build alternatives based more heavily on their own currencies and economic priorities. With the group\u2019s economic and political influence growing and more countries from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia coming on board, she stressed, \u201cBRICS for me truly is the future.\u201d
\nThe 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi, India, on September 12-13.\u00a0BRICS was established by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. The group expanded further in 2024 with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, while Indonesia became a full member in January 2025.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: South Africa secures $1 bn loan from BRICS bank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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