BRICS, a bloc of five major emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) has announced it new members on Thursday.

Reports have it that the 15th BRICS Summit of Heads of State and Government started Tuesday, August 22, and is to end Thursday, August 24 at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The bloc has announced six new members. They include;

Argentina
Egypt
Ethiopia
Iran
Saudi Arabia
UAE

South Africa’s President Matamela Ramaphosa while making the announcement said, “BRICS itself is a diverse group of nations. It is an equal partnership of countries that have differing views but have a shared vision for a better world.”

“As the five BRICS countries, we have reached an agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures of the BRICS expansion process, which has been in discussion for quite a while. We have a consensus on the first phase of this expansion process, and other phases will follow.

“We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of BRICS, the membership will take effect from 1 January 2024,” he said.

Reports have it that BRICS now controls over 50% of the world’s oil reserves.