In May 2026, BRICS evolved beyond its origins as an emerging-markets concept into a major geopolitical coalition spanning Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Eurasia, and Latin America. Representing more than half of the world’s population and an expanding share of global trade, the bloc is now turning its attention toward the New Delhi summit, a defining moment for Africa.
This is far more than a diplomatic gathering. It represents a strategic opportunity for Africa to strengthen its role in the emerging global order by leveraging BRICS’ expanded framework to challenge long-standing Western dominance and position itself as a rising centre of geopolitical and economic influence in an increasingly fragmented world.
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As global power dynamics continue to shift, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, has arrived in New Delhi for the 2026 BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting convened under India’s chairship.
The meeting comes at a period of exceptional global instability. Armed conflicts, technological disruption, trade fragmentation, climate pressures, and intensifying competition over global governance rules are reshaping the international system. For Africa, the implications are significant.
An expanded BRICS, now comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, with additional membership applications under consideration, is rapidly evolving from a coalition of emerging economies into a broader platform for Global South coordination.
At the centre of Africa’s engagement with this transformation stands South Africa, still Africa’s most institutionally influential BRICS member and its primary diplomatic gateway into multilateral negotiations that may shape the next global order.
BRICS began in 2001 as “BRIC,” a term coined by Jim O’Neill, then an economist at Goldman Sachs, to describe four fast-growing economies expected to reshape the global economy during the 21st century.
What began as a largely theoretical grouping of emerging economies was fundamentally transformed by the 2008 global financial crisis. The collapse of major Western financial institutions triggered widespread dissatisfaction among developing nations regarding the structure of global governance, particularly the dominance of the IMF, the World Bank, and Western-led financial systems.
In response, BRIC leaders convened their first summit in 2009 in Yekaterinburg, formally transforming the concept into a diplomatic coalition.
A year later, South Africa officially joined the bloc, expanding BRIC into BRICS and giving Africa direct representation within the coalition. The move proved highly consequential. It gave BRICS access to Africa’s most industrialised economy, strengthened its legitimacy across the Global South, and deepened its institutional connections with African regional organisations.
Over time, BRICS evolved beyond summit diplomacy into a broader economic architecture with its own institutions, financing mechanisms, and development ambitions. The creation of the New Development Bank in 2014 marked a decisive turning point.
The NDB was conceived as an alternative to the Bretton Woods financial institutions and designed to fund infrastructure and sustainable development projects across emerging economies without the political conditionalities often associated with Western lending institutions. This institutional expansion demonstrated that BRICS was no longer merely a discussion platform, but a bloc actively constructing the institutional foundations of an alternative economic order.
The economic weight of BRICS in 2026 explains why the bloc now commands growing international attention. The expanded grouping accounts for approximately 40 to 44 percent of global GDP at purchasing power parity and represents more than 55 percent of the world’s population.
Collectively, the bloc has consolidated a nominal GDP estimated at more than $30 trillion. With a projected average growth rate of 3.7 percent, BRICS significantly outpaces the G7’s anticipated 1.1 percent growth rate. This growing influence has reportedly attracted interest from more than 30 countries seeking membership or partnership arrangements.
Beyond economic output, BRICS now controls major energy reserves, critical mineral supply chains, manufacturing hubs, agricultural resources, and increasingly important digital infrastructure. These advantages position the bloc as a major counterweight within a fragmenting global economy.
India’s 2026 chairship arrives during one of the most turbulent geopolitical periods since the Cold War. The international system is under pressure from escalating rivalries, energy insecurity, supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures, and intensifying competition over technological leadership.
New Delhi has strategically framed its agenda around “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” presenting India not simply as a BRICS member, but as a bridge between the Global South, Western economies, and emerging multipolar institutions.
India’s External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, is expected to guide discussions around institutional reform, trade coordination, local currency settlements, development financing, and geopolitical risk management.
At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promoted a “Humanity First” doctrine that reflects India’s broader soft-power strategy. For Africa, these discussions carry direct implications for financing access, debt restructuring, infrastructure investment, trade competitiveness, digital sovereignty, and geopolitical bargaining power.
Although South Africa’s economy is smaller than several of its BRICS counterparts, its geopolitical relevance extends far beyond GDP figures. Pretoria functions as BRICS’ principal diplomatic gateway into Africa and remains a strong advocate for continental multilateral priorities.
Its contributions are visible across several strategic areas. Through the New Development Bank, South Africa has secured financing worth more than 100 billion rand for energy, transport, logistics, and municipal infrastructure projects. The country also remains central to the operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, with its industrial base, logistics capacity, and financial systems increasingly aligned with BRICS partnerships focused on regional industrialisation and intra-African trade.
Diplomatically, Pretoria has consistently supported UN Security Council reform, stronger African representation in global institutions, and more equitable international financial governance. In many cases, South Africa has acted as a consensus-builder between competing geopolitical interests within the bloc.
Africa is no longer positioning itself merely as a passive recipient of external influence. Increasingly, the continent is seeking to shape global debates around climate finance, critical minerals, trade reform, digital governance, artificial intelligence ethics, and multilateral restructuring.
By 2050, one in four people globally is expected to be African. Combined with the continent’s vast reserves of cobalt, lithium, manganese, and rare earth minerals essential for electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and semiconductor manufacturing, this demographic and resource advantage gives Africa growing leverage within the global industrial transition.
However, major challenges remain. Internal BRICS tensions, including the China-India rivalry and sanctions-related pressures on Russia, continue to complicate the bloc’s cohesion. Africa itself also faces structural constraints linked to infrastructure deficits, debt burdens, energy shortages, and uneven industrial development.
The 2026 New Delhi meeting, therefore, represents far more than another diplomatic engagement. It reflects a defining transition toward a contested multipolar world order.
For Africa, the central question is no longer whether the continent will participate in shaping the emerging system, but whether it can influence the rules of that system rather than simply adapting to them. South Africa’s role within BRICS places it at the centre of that historic negotiation.
