The Prime Minister, Mr. Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane will be among the prominent business leaders in the region expected to attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 22-24, 2023.

This was confirmed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Mr. Lejone Mpotjoane in a brief interview on Friday.

He said they have decided as the cabinet that the Prime Minister be part of the expected dignitaries.

On the other hand, about 20 dignitaries including; the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson and the President of BRICS’ new Development Bank will also attend the summit.

Besides developing economic relations and trade infrastructure, one of the most pressing issues on the summit’s agenda is BRICS’ expansion, with several nations from Asia, Africa and Europe vying to join the bloc.

Another item on the agenda that has gained attention is the push from BRICS to conduct more cross-border trade in local currencies to reduce the group’s reliance on the US dollar.

Moreover, the world leaders expected to attend the summit include South African President, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to World Bank statistics, BRICS accounts for more than 40 percent of the world’s population and the combined GDP is more than 23 trillion US dollars thus 26 percent of the global economy.

BRICS is a bloc of emerging world economies; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa aimed at developing trade and economic cooperation among its member states. It started in 2001 with only four member states and in 2010 South Africa was added to the group when the bloc extended its membership to another continent.

Source: LENA 18/08/2023