At the Johannesburg summit, the Presidents of Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa reached an agreement to expand the BRICS interstate association from five to eleven members. South African President Cyril Ramaposa announced at a press conference following the summit that it had been decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as full members of the BRICS. The membership of these countries in the alliance will begin on January 1, 2024. Thus, after the entry of six new countries into the BRICS, the group will have access to 44.35% of the world's oil reserves. In addition, after the expansion of the membership, the total GDP of the BRICS countries will amount to $30.7 trillion, which corresponds to 30% of the world economy. Cyril Ramaposa also said that the expansion of the BRICS will take place in stages. He also noted that the leaders of the five countries have reached an agreement on the guidelines, standards, criteria and procedures for the BRICS expansion process.
