BRICS is getting bigger! Five more countries have officially joined the economic bloc.

So, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have become the latest countries to join the BRICS economic bloc. 

The new ten-member group now represents 42-percent of the world’s population and one-third of the global economy!

BRICS is an acronym that stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which are considered to be some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. 

China, for one, is already the second-largest economy in the world. 

The idea behind the grouping is that these countries will dominate the global economy by 2050. Essentially, they’re trying to become the next G7, the current leading economies. 

We talked a lot about BRICS last year, so watch those videos for a more in-depth look at the group.

In one of those videos, we talked about how dozens of countries were applying to join BRICS. 

Well, in August six nations were invited and five of them have officially accepted the invitation. 

Argentina did apply and was initially invited to join, but since then, the country had an election and the new government decided to decline.

Now BRICS has 10 member nations. And according to South Africa’s Foreign Minister, at least 34 other countries have tossed their names into the ring for consideration.

So, your next question would be, ‘why these countries?’

Remember, one of BRICS’ main goals is to become the dominant voice when it comes to global economic policy, replacing the G7 which includes countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

How do these new countries fit in with that agenda? One word… oil.

Saudi Arabia, Iran and the UAE are all top 10 global oil producers. 

According to the 2023 numbers, Saudi Arabia is actually the second-largest global oil producer behind the United States. The UAE is ranked eighth and Iran is ninth.

But guess what, Russia is ranked third, China sixth and Brazil seventh. That means, of the 10 BRICS member countries, six are top 10 oil producers.

Now BRICS controls almost half of the world’s oil production and we know that oil and gas prices influence almost everything. So if you control the oil, you control a lot!

Plus the UAE has a blossoming construction and real estate industry that has and still is attracting a lot of investors. 

Plus tourism is a big part of their economy. I mean Dubai and Abu Dhabi are super hot for tourism.

So it’s not hard to see the value these countries add.

But I should also note that there have been some conflicting reports regarding Saudi Arabia and BRICS. 

On one hand, you have Saudi Arabia’s State TV confirming that the country has joined the group.  But you also have Reuters quoting an official source saying the country is still considering the invitation.  So that’s still a little unclear. 

Meanwhile, there’s also Egypt and Ethiopia.

You may be wondering how these two fit in.

For example, Egypt has been facing a severe economic downtown. According to Reuters, its currency fell by half between 2022 and 23.  In July last year, inflation in Egypt rose to a record 36.5%!  And their debt servicing has become increasingly burdensome.

Egyptian officials hope their inclusion in BRICS will help attract investment from some of the world’s biggest emerging markets.

But what’s in it for BRICS to have Egypt, with its financial difficulties, become a member?  

I couldn’t find anything to indicate WHY Egypt and Ethiopia were invited.  But re: Egypt, my first thought was “strategic geographic importance” – the Suez canal.

Egypt controls a very important trade corridor, especially for those major oil producers.

As for Ethiopia, maybe they just wanted a strategic presence in East Africa.

And maybe South Africa wanted some African allies in the group.

Also called the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia has the second largest population on the continent.  It’s also reportedly the largest economy in East Africa, recently surpassing Kenya.

All I know is, nothing in international politics is by chance.  Everything is very strategic and calculated.

The BRICS is now nearing half of the world’s population and a-third of world’s economic power, making them more powerful than ever.

And that’s the bottom line.