Journal:Comparative Politics Russia
URL: https://www.sravpol.ru/jour/article/view/1777/974
DOI: 10.46272/2221-3279-2024-1-16-2
The article examines the integration of new African BRICS members into the scientific and educational cooperation of the association. Despite significant criticism related to the limited volume of scientific collaborations between the BRICS countries, the institute offers a constantly growing number of formats of interaction in the field of scientific, technological and educational cooperation. For a correct assessment, it is necessary to analyze and systematize the formats of cooperation within the association, including the creation of a common research infrastructure, the organization of scientific conferences, and regular meetings at the level of heads of ministries. Moreover, their development corresponds to the goal-setting of the institute, since the emergence of these formats was declared in the Memorandum on Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation in 2015. The development of cooperation within the association raises the question of how new BRICS members integrate into existing formats.
To provide an appropriate assessment, the development of science and education and the national strategy documents of two new members, Egypt and Ethiopia, are examined. There are significant gaps between these countries in terms of economic development, science and technology development, and basic literacy rates, which means that both the challenges and opportunities facing Egypt and Ethiopia differ. These imbalances pose risks for the intensification of cooperation within the international institution, since the economic capabilities of the new African member countries may limit their ability to participate in scientific and educational cooperation formats. Thus, Egypt joined the 2015 Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the BRICS Network University, participated in the meeting of education ministers and the meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Research Infrastructures and MegaScience Projects. Ethiopia, on the contrary, did not participate in these meetings. This points to the risks of increasing inequality within the association, which is recognized by the member countries: in 2025, many poor and small countries wishing to participate in the work of BRICS received the status of a partner country instead of a member status.
Despite the wide range of cooperation formats and their expansion, differences in the level of economic and scientific and technological development of the new African members pose challenges to their full integration. This gap highlights the need to adapt BRICS mechanisms to ensure inclusiveness and sustainability of scientific partnerships.
