How BRICS is reshaping the Global South’s place in the world

What the report says

The Independent Uganda published a commentary by Sithembiso Bhengu examining how BRICS is altering the position of Africa and the wider Global South in international politics. The piece says the grouping, which began in 2006 and later expanded to 11 members across four continents, has become a platform for countries seeking a greater voice in global development outside Western-led institutions.

The article argues that Africa’s role in BRICS has deepened since the 2023 summit, with South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia now full members. Bhengu presents this as significant because it gives African states more influence over decisions on finance, development and governance, rather than leaving them as outsiders to rules shaped elsewhere. The commentary also links BRICS to the New Development Bank and to a broader search for development funding without the policy conditions often associated with Bretton Woods lenders.

The piece places this debate in the context of long-running African concerns about debt, austerity and limited policy space. It says new financing and infrastructure partnerships can strengthen the continent’s bargaining power, while also warning that the real challenge is turning external investment into industrial growth, technology transfer and value addition. As background, BRICS has increasingly been viewed by many developing countries as one of several forums through which the Global South seeks more room to shape global institutions.