ANALYSIS: Regional Trade, Economic Strategy Draw Asian and African States Closer in BRICS

By Professor Maurice Okoli

Perhaps, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), with the new members and partner states, summit in New Delhi, on September 11 to13, produced a new round of significant declarations, adapting its collective policy towards an increasingly emerging architecture, while distinctively building an ‘Asian model’ of economic alliance. Under the chairmanship of India, the summit centred on creating a genuine reputation that has accumulated for nearly two decades. The timing was, particularly, notable. The most important strategic message was coined: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability.”

Addressing the BRICS summit of leading developing nations in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that rising geopolitical tensions could increasingly affect people worldwide, and called for deepening cooperation and strengthening support across the Global South.

“The number of conflicts and tensions in the world is continuously increasing, and this is having an increasingly negative and far-reaching impact on the lives of ordinary people,” Modi said, alongside leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

That was one of the main messages sent across the world. Founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, BRICS has expanded to 11 members representing about half the world’s population and a significant share of global economic output. It has sought greater representation for developing countries in global institutions and promoted alternative actions to Western-dominated financial systems.

Geopolitics: Is BRICS Challenging the West?

BRICS leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration, expressing indispensable concern relating to forging consensus over many strategic questions, backing greater use of local currencies in trade and stronger cross-border payment systems, while calling for cooperation on food security, energy, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and climate action. The declaration was a significant breakthrough, which holds competing positions on key regional and geopolitical issues, posing a complex diplomatic challenge amid ongoing conflicts and heightened geopolitical tensions. It emphasises collective support for a multipolar world order and operational and structural reforms at the United Nations, including its Security Council, as well as global financial institutions such as the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The declaration demonstrated that BRICS can move together and act on multilateral economic cooperation, and its sustainability in the Global South. That makes the question whether India has used its presidency to drum home for BRICS grouping to become more capable of taking economic action, with reports indicating that India entered a particular moment with more than just diplomatic presence. For instance, during the financial year 2024-25, its total exports amounted to approximately $825 billion, with services accounting for an estimated $387 billion.

Few developing countries can match New Delhi’s economic leverage, which stems from its large domestic market, expansion of the digital economy, and sustainable growth. Despite national preferences and differences between BRICS members, it is worthy to note that India is a major provider of digital public infrastructure, and its demography plays an increasingly important role in global consumption, production, and services.

It, therefore, exemplifies that BRICS members have to build economic prosperity by opening doors. This new phase must strategically focus on broader economic leverage. And appropriately, India’s geography provides an additional layer of economic leverage, which serves as a classic example for other Asian countries.

Сorporate Economic Weight, Limited Collective Power

While BRICS’s economic weight is enormous–its ability to wield it collectively is not, some analysts argued. However, experts’ arguments closely connected to BRICS operational successes and achievements should not only be measured by whether it can pose an alternative to multinational institutions, but also whether it could make any noticeable difference, in terms of using its natural resources to increase regional trade, raise economic production and improve distribution across the Global South. Several experts portray BRICS as offering its member countries alternative pathways for channelling trade and investment that serve the collective interests of member countries–largely national development and poverty alleviation.

Meanwhile, scholars have reminded that BRICS emerged after the 2008 financial collapse and the failures of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha Round–trade negotiations aimed at reforming the international trading system in favour of Global South countries. Why would the BRICS want to take on the global governance responsibilities of the G7 members? This has been the basic question among scholars until today. It is, however, believed that reforms and greater autonomy would be a greater concern for BRICS rather than overthrowing the unravelling liberal international order.

BRICS+ Financial Architecture

The group is noticeably dominated by China, which has the largest share of the group’s GDP, accounting to about 70% of the organisation’s total. The financial architecture of BRICS is made up of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). These components were signed into a treaty in 2014 and became active in 2015. The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank operated by the five BRICS states. It has non-members as contributors to the NDB.

The bank’s primary focus of lending is infrastructure projects, with authorised lending of up to $34 billion annually. South Africa hosts the African headquarters of the bank. The bank has a starting capital of $50 billion, with wealth increasing to $100 billion over time. Records show Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa initially contributed $10 billion each to bring the total to $50 billion. As of 2020, it had 53 projects underway worth around $15 billion. By 2025, the bank had approved more than $32 billion for 96 projects.

In 2021, Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay joined the NDB. With India’s presidency in 2026, which was estimated to be comprehensive and promising for BRICS, India has outlined its framework of priorities, as it did during its G20 presidency several years ago. In close coordination with members and partner states within the BRICS, India has ensured the balance of multifaceted interests and established mutual trust in the multipolar world system. The goal of transforming into a full-fledged international organisation must go beyond addressing current geopolitical challenges; it also requires developing effective ways of engaging in global development to reflect multipolarity. Today, collectively, BRICS comprises more than a quarter of the global economy and nearly half the world’s population.

BRICS Advocates for Reforms at Financial Institutions

Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of BRICS countries have called for reform of global developmental financial institutions ‌such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, seeking a ‌stronger voice for emerging market economies. “We will continue to strengthen coordination among BRICS members to make international financial ‌institutions more representative, transparent and accountable. With the growing share of emerging market and developing economies in ​global output and growth, reform of global economic governance remains a consistent BRICS priority,” Finance Chiefs of BRICS countries underlined in an official joint statement.

“We continue to have serious concerns with the unilateral imposition of trade and finance-related actions, including the raising of tariffs and non-tariff measures, which distort trade and are inconsistent with World Trade Organisation rules,” the statement said. “We ‌encourage the BRICS Payment Task Force to ​continue discussions, building ​on the ongoing work, to facilitate practical solutions for cross-border payments among BRICS countries, which are fast, low-cost, more accessible, efficient, transparent, and ​safe,” the statement said. While acknowledging the work done ​by the BRICS payment task force, the ​finance chiefs pushed for progress ​in ensuring greater interoperability of payment systems across member nations. It further noted that India will ‌push for progress on linking digital currencies across BRICS countries.

BRICS-Africa Transiting from Diplomacy to Strategic Economy

South Africa (2010), Ethiopia and Egypt (2024), as fully-fledged BRICS members, are seemingly changing policy, which has always been strategic ambiguity, to a kind of assertive flexibility. South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt are also positioning themselves as leading African voices for the Global South while, at the same time, maintaining relationships with competing Western powers. In principle, Africa generally collaborates with the United States and Asia-Pacific partners while striking, to a certain degree, multifaceted ties with Russia, and operates within the framework of the BRICS domain.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt held separate conversations on the current status and future prospects for their relations, and further discussed ways of strengthening BRICS strategic partnership in politics and security, economics and finance, and cultural and humanitarian ties, while exchanging divergent views on current international and regional issues that are of common significance to global development. South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt, however, plan to take new initiatives to improve and strengthen relations within BRICS.

The Asian economic architect is strongly being advocated for as BRICS’ new direction, and subsequently as non-Western-dominated attention, according to the common statement by leaders of South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt, while noting the significance of India’s role in hosting the 18th summit, and congratulating India for directing BRICS in shaping the South-South alliance and the new economic order. As BRICS-African members, South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia indicated high aspirations to build an alternative order to the West, wielding power to challenge Western hegemony. Now experiencing a ‘reawakening’ from the colonial yoke, Africa began throttling alternative pathways, and consistently signalling trade and investment that would serve the interests of the African member countries–largely focused on continental economic development, economic improvement and poverty alleviation.

Historical records show that South Africa became a BRICS member after it was formally invited and supported by China, and unreservedly backed by India and Russia. South African leader, Cyril Ramaphosa, warmly extended his appreciation for BRICS members’ support during South Africa’s G20 presidency, and generally for supporting South Africa’s priorities in the system of its diplomacy, relating to multilateral organisations and global partners. It was an important opportunity to review the progress and to identify new areas of collaboration. South Africa offered the highest assurances to continue working with various multilateral forums to contribute to the broader international efforts aiming at securing peace around the world. Since January 2024, Ethiopia, as a full-fledged member of the group, has been making constructive contributions to its diverse activities, as well as other forms of support in multilateral directions. The Arab Republic of Egypt has been one of the strongest strategic partners in North Africa and, to a large extent, comprehensively participating in a spectrum of multiple questions in the Arab world.

The Changing Central Asian Landscape

One region where this is happening is Central Asia. As Russia continues its war in Ukraine, the Caspian Policy Centre has reported that Central Asia’s relationship with China has strengthened. According to the assessment, China’s trade with the five countries in Central Asia surpassed $70 billion in 2022 and $90 billion in 2023. Chinese trade with the five Central Asian states then reached $106 billion in 2025. This suggests that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan are becoming more dependent on trade with China. Time will tell how China’s relationship with Central Asia on this front unfolds, and whether these developments will erode the Russian Federation’s traditional dominance over Central Asia’s market.

The economic sector is not the only area influenced by Central Asia’s pivot to China. The Chinese have also increased their defence relationship with the five Central Asian states. According to a Eurasianet assessment published on August 20, China is “challenging Russia’s stranglehold on Central Asia’s arms market.” Still, leaders from the five Central Asian countries are mindful of their growing relationship with China. Having noted their engagements with Russia, government officials from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan have met with representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union to discuss trade, energy, and defence engagements. This effort aims to diversify their markets. As a result, the U.S., UK, and EU have provided tens of millions of dollars in assistance to the Central Asian states. Much of this assistance has been used towards economic development.

Final Whistling Points

In mid-September 2026, India hosted the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit, seeking to raise the group’s profile, to build a coherent alternative architecture, especially its economic outstanding and geopolitical position. The grouping of emerging countries–Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and in more recent years, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia–was created to challenge Western global dominance. The BRICS now constitutes 11 members and represents approximately 49.5% of the world’s population, 40% of global GDP, and 26% of global trade.

The geography of the BRICS network of economic relationships must enlist different partners to provide different forms of economic, technological, and, of course, political value. But trade cannot also flourish in the Asian region and with other regions where movement of technically skilled people, manufactured goods and productive services remains too difficult, and markets remain too fragmented. It is necessary to move from rhetoric to the practical phase, and towards creating strategic partnerships. Most of BRICS members have appreciable relations with the Russian Federation as they look, simultaneously, to build partnerships with other powerful countries that provide economic cooperation and concrete deals with mutual trade. Noticeably, China and India are vigorously moving through Soviet’s Central Asia into Europe.

Ultimately, in-depth debates and discussions at India’s 18th BRICS lead to communiques and declarations. But these intellectual conversations and collective positions on technology, innovation and development, as a critical transition stage, have to be shared with governments and partners to access funding, production facilities, gain regulatory support, encourage knowledge-sharing skills and entrepreneurial expertise for the ultimate realisation of practical development expectations and a better world. Establishing a system in which ideas subsequently translate into strengthening production capacity while delivering broader economic benefits. India has underlined its collaboration model and engagement template in a competitive multipolar world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assertively said that “reform of institutions of global governance … has been on the BRICS agenda since its inception. We must be careful to ensure that this organisation does not acquire the image of one that is trying to replace global institutions. The strength of BRICS lies in its diversity and cooperation. BRICS is not anti-Western but simply non-Western.” BRICS has neither a permanent seat nor a secretariat. By rotational procedures and consensus, India handed over the BRICS+ presidency or chairmanship for 2027 to China, underscoring its highly enriching membership and gracious opportunity to deepen the non-Western and intergovernmental association as a leading geopolitical force in the Global South.

Professor Maurice Okoli is an economist and research fellow associated with the Russian Academy of Sciences (including the Institute for African Studies and IMEMO), as well as an expert with the Valdai Discussion Club