South Africa shines at BRICS Summit, Raises Hope for Nigeria

As South Africa continues to raise its profile as a potential industrial giant with its membership in the BRICS, hopes are rising too of Nigeria being added to the list of fastest growing Emerging markets, adding to Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa in the BRICS composition. 

"BRICS and Africa - partnerships for integration and industrialization" was the theme of the fifth BRICS summit which took place in Durban this year, Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring, Evaluation and Administration Collins Chabane said.

South Africa was admitted to the grouping of powerful emerging economies, which includes Brazil, Russia, India and China, at the third annual summit of the bloc's leaders in China in 2011.

The fifth summit at Durban's International Convention Centre had four key focus areas, namely the promotion of African infrastructure development, and the establishment of a BRICS-ing led development bank, a BRICS think-tank and a BRICS business council.

The minister said South Africa's membership of BRICS should be understood in the context of the country's aim to tackle the developmental challenges faced by Africa as a whole, and its strategic focus on infrastructure as a key vehicle for creating jobs, boosting Africa's overall competitiveness, and promoting regional integration on the continent.

"We wish to align [BRICS member countries'] interests in supporting the integration agenda in Africa, and not just focusing on access to our resources," Chabane said.

He noted that BRICS leaders, at the third BRICS summit in Sanya, China in 2011, had declared their support for African infrastructure development and industrialization within the framework of New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).

And at the fourth BRICS summit, in New Delhi in India in March-April 2012, South African President Jacob Zuma met with BRICS captains of industry, inviting them "to join hands in the development of the African continent".

South Africa's accession to the BRICS grouping was in large part premised on the country's role as a financial and logistical gateway to sub-Saharan Africa, and on the continent's huge economic potential. "Africa is the fastest growing power after Asia and offers the highest returns on investments of any region," Chabane noted. 

It was this potential, combined with the economic power of Brazil, Russia, India and China, that would enable the BRICS grouping to pave the way for "a new global pattern focusing on South-South relations ... overriding previous East-West and North-South constructs and divisions," Chabane said. 

The African continent constitutes 60% of the world's unused arable agricultural land. In 2010, six of the world's fastest growing economies emanated from Africa, and Africa's output is expected to expand by 50% over the next four years. Economic growth is expected to expand by an average of 5.5% annually in the next five years. 

With Nigeria's economic growth rate standing at almost 7%, and with its population advantage, it is hoped that Nigeria will join South Africa  at some stage in the future in the BRICS community.