Leaders of the BRIC countries--Brazil, Russia, India and China
The South African Foreign Minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said that her country has received a formal invitation to join BRIC, reported by the news agency AFP. The BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China
are group of emerging nations with large and dominating economies in their own corners of the world. The BRIC nations have influencing economic power in each of their economic blocks. For a while the economic experts have been speculating and forecasting that Nigeria will be the first country in Africa to make it to BRIC because of her size and future economic growth.
While Nigeria was sitting down occupied with lethargy and internal politics, South Africa as usual was busy lobbying for a membership into the league of the largest emerging economies BRIC. Now South Africa has made it and has become the first and only African country that has made into the advantageous and prestigious economic group. Nigeria’s finance minister, Olusegun Aganga has just dropped the ball this time and has shown lack of leadership in this issue. Aganga is a respected voice in the financial world, and should have used his influence and prestige to lobby for his country. Africa should be proud of South Africa for trying to better her country but Nigeria must also catalyze her economic progress by getting involved and not waiting for things to be handed to her. Nigeria must be proactive and must make the intrinsic initiative to lead and to get involved.
South Africa is also a member of G20, the only Africa nation in the group. Nigeria is not admitted to G20 and cannot make it to BRIC nation membership. Being a participating member of this important groups can be good thing because it shows that the country is matured and respected to make it to those bodies. Moreover, significant strategic, economic and financial decisions are made in those meetings. A nation absent cannot be fully represent her interest and aspirations in the globalized economy. The participation can become a confidence booster that enable other countries to accept each other, therefore making more trading and investments possible.
“Chinese President Hu Jintao also issued a letter of invitation to (South African) President Jacob Zuma to attend the third BRICS leaders’ summit, to be held in China in the first quarter of 2011. China in its capacity as rotating chairperson of the BRIC formation, based on agreement reached by the BRIC member states, invites South Africa as a full member into what will in future be called BRICS” according to SA Foreign Minister Nkoana-Mashabane .
“The BRIC countries are not formally linked but have held summits and taken steps to boost financial cooperation and investment opportunities among them. The group held its first formal summit in Russia last year. She said she received a phone call on Thursday from Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi informing her of the invitation to join the group, whose current members will account for 61 percent of global growth in 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund.”
Jim O’Neill, Chairman Goldman Sachs Asset Management, misread the tea leaf that South Africa will not be accepted into BRIC because of her relatively small population of 50 million comparing to Nigeria’s 150 million. But population is not everything as it has been proven with the entrance of South Africa into BRIC. South Africa is the largest and most developed economy in Africa. With relatively less corruption and with strong democratic standing coupled with durable civil and social infrastructures makes her attractive to BRIC. Nigeria will not only rely on her population as the only factor to be recognized as an emerging power, she must work aggressively to develop a disciplined and diversified economy.
Prior to this development, Kingsley Ighomwenghian of Agency Report, commenting on South Africa and Nigeria membership quest in BRIC, wrote: “The BRICs are some of the world’s fastest growing economies, to which according to Reuters, quoting Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev, South Africa had “applied” to join in. Others eager to join the club include Turkey, Mexico and Indonesia, which investors typically eye as possible additions to the BRICs, having grabbed a chunk of emerging market investment in recent years due to their scale, growth and impact on the global economy. “
Nigeria has been favored over South Africa because of her large population and her bulging GDP. Nigerian economy has been growing at about annual rate of 7.8 percent and even expected to grow up to 10 percent with the future upgrade and improvement of electricity. Razia Khan, an African research expert at Standard Chartered joined the debate by predicting that Nigeria’s economy may overtake and supersede South Africa’s by 2023 and “in the next five years, Nigeria will add another 23 million people and South Africa will add another 2.8 million.” Even with all the Nigeria’s advantage, the well organized South Africa made it to BRIC before her.
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