During the 15th BRICS Summit, 22-24 August 2023, in Johannesburg, South Africa, chaired by South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, six new countries were admitted to the bloc. The BRICS are now called the BRICS- 11 and include the five original nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. The new members invited to join the bloc as of 1 January 2024 are Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The summit took place with big fanfare and expectations. Some 40 countries were invited, all wanted to become members of the BRICS, but just six new ones made it. Another group will probably be included in the bloc during next year’s BRICS summit, hosted by Russia.