Africa-Press – Liberia. South African president Cylil Ramophosa will be the summit’s chairperson having taken over from China’s President Xi-ping, In his statement President Ramophosa said that more African presidents will be invited to attend the summit to advance the interests of the continent
In August this year, the 15th edition of the BRICS summit will be held on the African continent under the theme “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development, and inclusive multilateralism”.
South African president Cylil Ramophosa will be the summit’s chairperson having taken over from China’s President Xi-ping, In his statement President Ramophosa said that more African presidents will be invited to attend the summit to advance the interests of the continent.
The latest data suggests that the BRICS countries which include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa together combined have officially taken over the G7 countries in terms of GDP(PPP) share with experts warning that the trend is more likely to continue.
The current five member countries of the BRICS contribute 31.5 percent of the global GDP, while the G7 has fallen to 30 percent, the BRICS is expected to contribute over 50 percent of the global GDP if the proposal to enlarge member states succeeds.
However, it should be noted that the BRICS’s future as a vanguard of the global economy is uncertain given that the block’s member countries lack a unifying ideology they simply operate as an anti-hegemonic coalition with only contemporary grievances to counterpart the West and balance what they regard as a unipolar western global agenda
The diverging interests within the BRICS member states have had some of them involved in open conflict, just recently the relations between India and China have been worsening, and the two BRICS member states are facing off against each other along the disputed border in the Himlogan region.
There is also a possibility that by aligning with the BRICS Africa will have lined up itself to be exploited by China given the towering Chinas dominance within the BRICS member states.
However for Africa to accelerate its growth and development, its leaders should know that it’s their full responsibility to achieve that goal.
Throughout many years of manipulation, Africans have been made to believe that Africa is solely responsible for its underdevelopment, much as the blame is partly ours, one can also find much unfairness by analysing the relationship between Africa and some of the developed economies as he or she will recognise that it has been a relationship of exploitation.
President Museveni is among the few African leaders who are well-versed with African history as he enjoys narrating it in his public speeches and foreign missions where the young generation rashes to judge him, citing that he should get over these injustices and stop harping on the past. It’s naïve for African societies to see the past as the past, they should be aware that it’s their past history that has determined their current era of which much of it is still looming large over our continent.
The imperialists have only changed their rhetoric and methods but not their mindset and attitudes towards Africa instead of exploiting us with brute force as they did in the past, major powers now rely on preferential trade deals and skewed financing arrangements to constrain the continent’s development and keep it poor.
It’s critical to note that none of the BRICS countries has ever at any time owned any part of the African continent nor do they have a record of investing in African economies with the main intention of exploitation, though I’m not suggesting that Africa should choose BRICS over the West, the last thing Africa needs now is polarisation, Africa should diversify its economy by trading with both the BRICS and the West but if the trade between the BRICS and Africa proves disadvantageous to the African economy, then the BRICS will have also joined the ranks of exploiters.
For More News And Analysis About Liberia Follow Africa-Press
