S.Africa announces inviting Egypt to be full member of BRICS

CAIRO - 24 August 2023: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared an invitation to Egypt, Argentine, Saudi Arabia and UAE to be full members at BRICS.

The new members will join BRICS as of January 1, 2024. The president declared the outcome of the 15th BRICS summit.

South African Minister of Small Business Development Stella Tembisa Ndabeni-Abrahams said small and medium sized enterprises are vital for changing the current economic situation in Africa.

She made the remarks in statements to MENA on the fringe of the BRICS Summit which is currently held in Johannesburg form August 22 to 25.

She said If heads of state and the business council of BRICS prioritized small businesses, the economic situation in African countries will completely change.

Africa's GDP stands at dlrs 1.4 trillion, she said, noting that if policies changed to encourage cooperation among African countries, the African free trade zone agreement will be spearheaded.

The minister said a number of African countries managed to encourage entrepreneurship, citing Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana as examples in this regard.

She noted that South Africa placed small businesses at the heart of its development plans and worked on replacing imported products with locally-made ones.