The Center for the Study of BRICS African Strategy (Youth Laboratory), established on the basis of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, invites all interested colleagues to participate in the scientific seminar “BRICS African States: Prospects for Cooperation in a New Format”.
The workshop will be held on Wednesday, May 15 in the Africa Institute conference room at 1pm.
Reports will be made by young researchers-employees of the new center. The meeting will be attended by experts from the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chief Researcher, Dr. Sci. V.G. Shubin., Senior Researcher, Candidate of Economic Sciences. S.N. Volkovand the leading researcher, Dr. Sci. Т. L. Deitch.
Abstracts of the reports
“Ethiopia's Reasons for Joining the BRICS”
Grishenkin M.S.,
Zamesina S.N.
Centre for African Strategy in BRICS
On January 1, 2024, Ethiopia, along with Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, became members of the BRICS association. This decision was taken at the XV summit of this association held in Johannesburg on August 22-24, 2023. In this report, the authors aim to analyze the reasons for Ethiopia's accession to BRICS. The authors emphasize the multifaceted nature of Ethiopia's objectives in joining BRICS, including not only expanding its international influence but also maintaining its traditional strategic priorities.
An important aspect is the focus on geo-economic aspects and the country's active participation in international economic integration processes. Ethiopia's economic relations with key BRICS member countries such as China, India, Russia and the United Arab Emirates are also analyzed. The authors emphasize the importance of attracting foreign investment and accessing financial instruments of the New Development Bank in light of the economic challenges Ethiopia faces, including the 2023 default and outstanding debt bonds.
The article is an analytical review that helps to understand the diverse aspects of Ethiopia's accession to BRICS and its significance for the country in the current global economic dynamics.
“Egypt's Reasons for Joining the BRICS.”
Ufimtsev A.A.,
BRICS Center for the Study of African Strategy,
Research Intern at the Center for Stability and Risk Studies of the National Research University Higher School of Economics,
On January 1, 2024, Egypt became a member of BRICS. The topic of this presentation is formulated as the reasons for Egypt's accession to BRICS. This study will formulate an answer to the question of Egypt's reasons for joining the BRICS based on the expectations of the actors and assess whether these expectations are realistic.
There are several main reasons for Egypt's accession to BRICS. The first of them concerns the opportunities for additional communication with certain players. Within the framework of summits and various multilateral formats, Egyptian leaders can meet more often with politicians from countries such as China, Russia and the UAE, which are important creditors of Egypt and are actively involved in the implementation of megaprojects in the country. This argument was made by Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Mait, who said that Egypt's accession to BRICS will increase investment and provide new export opportunities by deepening economic ties between Egypt and member states. This is facilitated by the nature of the BRICS economies, some of its old and new members: the UAE has a large amount of money in public funds, and the significant role of public institutions in the economies of China and Russia will allow Egypt to involve these countries in mega projects, including on favorable terms. This argument does not apply to OECD countries: improved relations with Germany will not make Siemens, which supplies high-speed trains to Egypt and is building the Bani Sueif thermal power plant, more likely to work on favorable terms, since the list of government tools to influence decisions made by a private company is limited to incentives through subsidies and government contracts.
The second argument relates to the fact that in Egypt, against the backdrop of persistent economic problems related to the budget deficit, trade deficit and devaluation of the national currency, the government has to constantly demonstrate actions and intentions aimed at improving the economic situation in order to maintain a high level of legitimacy. This is why pro-government newspapers often focus on the economic benefits of Egypt's accession: the Al-Masry Al-Yaum newspaper argues that because Egypt imports grain, oil, and other manufactured goods from the BRICS countries, future increases in trade using local currencies could reduce demand for the U.S. dollar and slow inflation.
