World
BRICS PLUS verses G-8 in New Global Configuration
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
The United States has outstretched its political and economic interests around the world. China has strategically extended its tentacles across both the Atlantic and the Pacific, conquered Africa, and intensified commercial operations in the Central Asia regions including the former Soviet republics – the backyard of the Russian Federation.
Despite its large population of 1.5 billion which many have considered as an impediment, China’s domestic economic reforms and collaborative strategic diplomacy with external countries have made it attain superpower status over the United States. China is strengthening its trade, investment and economic muscles.
Russia has been teaming up with China and India and a few other external countries to establish a new global economic system. Its aim is to break the unipolar system that successive White House administrations have maintained. Due to socialist economic planning and their advancement of the notions of international cooperation and peace even among states with varying social systems, there has been tremendous progress in the areas of international solidarity.
The Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) grouping is a manifestation of the role of Beijing, Moscow and Pretoria along with the other states to craft another order. These new alliances are perceived as a threat to the role of the United States, Britain and the European Union since they are not participant members and cannot directly impact the agendas and goals established by the BRICS.
Russia has some limitations. Its external economic footprint is comparatively weak. Its external policies hardly promote its economic models. The geopolitical reordering of the world cannot simply be achieved through war or challenging the West’s political influence in its various global domains. The economic component is possibly the most significant.
As Dr Ramzy Baroud, a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle wrote recently “the Middle East, especially the Gulf region, is vital for the current global economic order and is equally critical for any future reshaping of that order. If Moscow is to succeed in redefining the role of Arab economies vis-à-vis the global economy, it would most likely succeed in ensuring that a multipolar economic world takes form. Russia is clearly invested in a new global economic system, but without isolating itself in the process.”
Russia has exited many international organizations, instead of sustaining its membership and using these platforms to propagate its global mission. It has gone into self-isolation, with many heavy-handed criticisms against the United States and Europe.
Russia is currently pushing an initiative for multipolarity. In June 2022, Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on Telegram that the United States and its allies are destroying economic ties by their sanctions policy, but at the same time creating new points of growth in other countries.
“The move by Washington and its allies to cut the existing economic ties has created new points of growth in the world,” he pointed out. According to the parliament speaker, Western sanctions are leading to the establishment of another group of eight nations – China, India, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Iran and Turkey – that is 24.4% ahead of the old group of developed countries in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and purchasing power parity.
“The United States, with its own hands, has created conditions for countries willing to build an equal dialogue and mutually beneficial relations to actually establish a new G-8 group with Russia,” Volodin noted.
Understandably, there is a Group of Seven (G-7), an inter-governmental political forum, that includes highly developed countries. These are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, the European Union is a non-enumerated member. Its members are the world’s largest IMF advanced economies and the wealthiest liberal democracies. The group is organized around shared values of pluralism and representative government. As of 2020, the collective group accounted for over 50 per cent of global net wealth. Its members are great powers in global affairs and maintain mutually close political, economic, social, legal, environmental, military, religious, cultural, and diplomatic relations.
Russia has dismembered itself from the group and remained critical about it arguing that the G-7 has no relevance to exist since its members also meet at the Group of Twenty (G-20). Based on that argument, if the establishment of another new Group of Eight nations – China, India, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Iran and Turkey – is formed, BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, it follows, will have to be absorbed by the new Group of Eight organization, and thus pushing out South Africa.
Indonesia which will host the G-20 summit in Bali this November is doing its best to insulate the meeting from politics. Whether Indonesia will arbitrate between angry clashing superpowers is simply unpredictable. The chances of a sudden rapprochement between the United States and China – let alone between the US and Russia – are exceedingly low.
Russia and China’s strategic alliance is strengthening and China has resisted so many attempts for excluding Russia from international organizations. Both are staunch members of BRICS.
Dr Pankaj Kumar Jha, Professor at O. P. Jindal Global University in Sonipat, Haryana, observes that China and India border conflict will continue influencing BRICS. However, India and China are cooperating to develop alternate financial structures, cohesive guidelines within Asia and the global south on many issues such as trade, investment and developing an understanding so that the dominance of the West could be reduced to a minimum in global financial architecture, he said and added, “the foundation of cooperation in BRICS brings potential resources and critical development requirements under one umbrella.”
Questions about the future of BRICS remain especially when new world order is being discussed. Drawing inspiration from Quad plus, BRICS countries are also discussing BRICS plus format. The formation of the new grouping G-8 is primarily a fusion of BRICS and VISTA (Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina). The formation is primarily to connect BRICS to middle-income and middle-power countries, according to his explanation.
Dr Pankaj Kumar Jha concluded his argument: “This geopolitical configuration is in exploratory phases, undoubtedly meant to bring a new axis of Russia-China but the inclusion of Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey. How much successful this grouping would be is still a matter of conjecture. From a geopolitical point of view, much would depend on how sanctions on Russia and the post-coronavirus recovery of China shape up.”
Professor Aslan Abashidze, Head of the Department of International Law of the Russian University of Peoples’ Friendship and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs observes that in general, international associations emerge on the basis of prerequisites that may be of a different nature: political, defensive, cultural, et cetera. The emergence of such “para-organizations” as the Group of Seven (G-7), Group of Eight (G-8), and Group of Twenty (G-20) is associated with the inability of international institutions at the global level to meet the increased needs of modern development in the face of growing challenges in the form of pandemics, financial crisis et cetera.
The process of searching for new models by the states dissatisfied with the United States policy has started, which means the end of the dominance of the United States in all spheres of international relations. At some point, the West, headed by the United States, will have to negotiate new models of international economic and other relations, based on new international treaties that ensure equality of all states.
According to Professor Abashidze, “Russia, China and India will establish trade relations on national currencies and therefore it will be attractive and beneficial to other states, not only from the Asia-Pacific region but also from Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.”
The emerging new coalition group is coming up at a crucial time when over the last two decades, the United States, Britain, the European Union (EU) countries and their allies globally, have been embroiled in numerous imperialist interventions resulting in destabilization, military interventions, proxy wars and the expansion of western imperialism throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr Sidi Ould Tah, says more African countries are likely to regain or achieve investment-grade credit ratings by next year as reforms begin to deliver results and economic growth accelerates.
Several African sovereigns have already been upgraded in recent months, including Nigeria. However, Nigeria is not yet near investment-grade status.
In May, S&P Global Ratings upgraded Nigeria’s sovereign credit ratings to ‘B’ with a stable outlook, citing structural reforms under President Bola Tinubu and key drivers like higher oil production and improved fiscal revenue.
The country is still five notches from investment-grade. Under S&P’s rating scale, the progression follows— B → B+ → BB- → BB → BB+ → BBB- (investment grade).
S&P raised Morocco to investment grade last year and increased South Africa by one level to BB in November. Ghana, Zambia, the Ivory Coast and Kenya have also benefited from positive rating action linked to fiscal, debt and economic reforms.
“We’re quite confident that the continent will continue to grow very strongly and that African countries will be better rated in the coming years,” Mr Ould Tah said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“We’ve seen Morocco receive investment grade during the last few months, and we expect other countries by next year to get toward that,” he added.
The outlook reflects improving fiscal positions and reforms implemented across countries on the continent, even as the conflict in the Middle East threatens to slow economic growth and raise costs for energy-importing nations. Better credit ratings can help countries borrow at lower rates and fund development projects.
The AfDB projects the continent’s gross domestic product expansion will accelerate to 4.4 per cent next year, if the conflict in the Middle East does not extend for a longer period. It expects the continent to slow to 4.2 per cent this year.
The war in Iran has benefited oil producers such as Nigeria, Angola and Gabon, while exerting pressure on the fiscal positions of net energy importers such as South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Senegal.
Mr Ould Tah said the bank is ready to support countries facing budget constraints and high debt burdens due to the impact of the Iran crisis, including increasing credit lines to them.
“The board of directors of the bank will examine in the coming days how the bank can increase the volume of resources it will provide to its member countries in this specific situation,” he said.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Within the framework of the Expert Council on Africa at Russia’s State Duma, the lower chamber of parliamentarians, during its annual round-table conference, held in late May 2026, focused concretely on food security in Africa.
Under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, Alexander Babakov, the council’s round-table session on Russian-African cooperation in the field of ensuring food security, introduction of closed cycle technologies in agricultural and bioeconomy projects, was held in the State Duma.
Opening the meeting, Alexander Babakov noted the importance of continuing cooperation with African countries already in the new convocation of the State Duma, to which elections will be held in September 2026. “I am sure that right from the beginning of the work of the new convocation, the theme of cooperation between Russia and African countries will work as an example for circulation and use in other areas,” he said.
Member of the Committee on the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, deputy chairman of the Expert Council on Africa, Nikolai Novichkov, in his speech stressed the importance of a gradual transition to trade with African high-tech countries. “Our African partners are interested in producing and processing food locally, including earning a living on it,” the parliamentarian stated.
Director of the Department of Partnership with Africa at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Tatiana Dovgalenko, drew attention to the continued importance of the humanitarian component of Russian-African cooperation, which, despite efforts, “unforeseen, including and along the lines of specialised UN agencies, the number of hungry people in the world, according to experts, has been growing over the past few years.” According to Dovgalenko, the food crisis is localised in about 10 countries, four of which are in Africa.
As first deputy chairman of the Committee on International Affairs, Alexei Chepa noted, the food crisis and a number of other serious threats on the African continent are today exacerbated by a complex international situation, with the United States and Israel versus Iran causing rising energy prices worldwide. “This has also reflected on the cost of fertilisers that needed to be purchased previously. Even if prices fall in a few months, the yield still won’t. And there will be problems in Africa. At the same time, we understand that population growth in the coming years will be at Africa’s expense,” Chepa underlined in his contribution at the meeting.
Alexei Chepa also mentioned the special role of security enhancement in Africa, including in countering extremism and terrorism.
As part of the continuation of the work of the roundtable to promote cooperation with African countries in ensuring food security, the introduction of closed-loop technologies in agricultural and bioeconomics projects was discussed. As a traditional procedure, some recommendations are addressed to the Government of the Russian Federation.
In addition to representatives of the State Duma, diplomats, scientists, experts from related fields, representatives of the Government of the Russian Federation and the business community took part in the round-table discussion.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
The fourth India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-IV), originally scheduled for May 28 to May 31, 2026, in New Delhi, has been deferred to a later date due to the high risks of the Ebola virus, emerging and rapidly spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the central African region.
The African Union and Indian authorities jointly decided to postpone the summit to ensure the health safety of African leaders, stakeholders, corporate executives and entrepreneurs, amid public concerns over participants travelling from the virus-infested continent to New Delhi, India.
The India-Africa business dialogue is designed to strengthen bilateral partnerships, while facilitating networks for building not just real conversations but accessing new models of transacting corporate business and remoulding investments. It has three-fold dimensions: strategic partnerships, getting new clients and potential investors. An entirely significant collaboration that opens new markets.
Too often, businesses focus only on visibility and forget the power of relationships. But growth rarely happens alone. It happens through collaboration, trusted partnerships, and being in spaces where serious conversations happen naturally.
India-Africa has previously held a series of such high-level meetings with key trade and economic institutions in Africa as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral trade, investment cooperation and private-sector partnerships between India and Africa. These engagements aimed at identifying new economic opportunities and supporting the expansion of Indian-based companies into promising African markets.
Key Details & Context
Postponement Status: Following joint consultations, both sides mutually agreed to convene the summit at a later date. No rescheduled date has been announced at this time.
Summit Objectives: The summit, the first gathering since 2015, aims at deepening strategic multifaceted ties, focusing on South-South cooperation, technology transfers, capacity building, and healthcare resilience.
Official Information:
- Tracking the latest developments, both the Government of the Republic of India and the African Union have been working closely on the convening of the Fourth India–Africa Forum Summit (IAFS IV), initially scheduled to take place in New Delhi from 28–31 May 2026.
- The two sides exchanged views on the evolving health situation in parts of Africa and reaffirmed the importance of continued cooperation in strengthening public health preparedness and response capacities across the continent, including through support to Africa CDC and relevant national institutions.
- India reaffirmed its solidarity with the peoples and Governments of Africa and expressed its readiness to contribute to Africa CDC-led efforts aimed at addressing the evolving health situation, in line with the shared commitment to an Africa-led response.
- Recognising the importance of ensuring the full participation and engagement of African leaders and stakeholders, and mindful of the emerging public health situation on the continent, consultations were held between the Government of India, the Chairperson of the African Union, and the African Union Commission regarding the holding of the Summit and associated activities.
- Following these consultations, the two sides agreed that it would be advisable to convene the Fourth India–Africa Forum Summit at a later date.
- New dates for the Summit and its associated meetings will be finalised through mutual consultations and communicated in due course.
- India and Africa reaffirmed their longstanding partnership founded on solidarity, mutual respect, South–South cooperation, and a shared commitment to peace, development, prosperity, and the well-being of their peoples.
Previous Editions of the India–Africa Forum Summit
1st India–Africa Forum Summit
New Delhi, India – 2008
The first edition was held in New Delhi from 4–8 April 2008. It marked the launch of the India–Africa strategic partnership framework and resulted in the adoption of the Delhi Declaration and the India–Africa Framework for Cooperation.
2nd India–Africa Forum Summit
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 2011
The second edition was held in Addis Ababa in May 2011. Leaders focused on expanding cooperation in trade, infrastructure, human resource development, agriculture and peace and security.
3rd India–Africa Forum Summit
New Delhi, India – 2015
Theme: “Reinvigorated Partnership – Shared Vision” This edition was historic because all African countries were invited, making it one of India’s largest diplomatic gatherings with African leaders.
About the India–Africa Forum Summit: The first three Summits were held in New Delhi (2008 and 2015) and Addis Ababa (2011), resulting in important outcomes such as the Delhi Declaration and the Africa–India Framework for Cooperation. The India–Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) is the highest institutional platform for dialogue and cooperation between India and African countries, held under the leadership of the African Union.
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