Africa’s Largest Economy, Nigeria to Join BRICS

Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa has shown interest in joining the intergovernmental organisation of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) at the upcoming annual summit in 2024.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has recently discussed the nations interest in joining the collective geopolitical bloc. He reiterated the interest of Nigeria during his official visit to Russia on Wednesday.

Nigeria appreciates the Russian Federation’s immense support and solidarity with the Nigerian government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, noting that the country is exploring the possibility of joining BRICS and seeking to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council as part of efforts to ensure that Nigeria and Africa are represented at the highest levels of global decision-making, he stated.

Tuggar who met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mr Sergey Lavrov stated that Nigeria and Russia have enjoyed cordial bilateral relations since establishing diplomatic ties on December 25, 1960.

Nigeria will apply to join BRICS in 2024. pic.twitter.com/LaadG8Fuae

— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) March 7, 2024

According to WatcherGuru, the BRICS bloc is likely to include Nigeria in a host of invitations in 2024, similar to the previous year. To this point, there are a host of nations that are seeking entry into the bloc, with more than 25 expressing interest.

Last year, the bloc extended invitations to Argentina, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Argentina’s President, Javier Milei was the only one of the six nations to decline the invitation outright. For Nigeria, joining the BRICS would allow the country to strengthen its economic ties with Russia.

Meanwhile, the BRICS in its de-dollarization efforts in global alliance expansion to ditch the dollar while boosting its economic ties has created room for interested countries to partake in the future of international monetary and global financial system dominance against the dollar.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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Mayowa Durosinmi is a Nigerian investigative reporter for West Africa Weekly with reports focusing on politics, human rights, security and health in West Africa and the Sahel region.

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