成人快手

鈥淚 think this community of BRICS is looking after each other and for sure it鈥檚 going to open more doors鈥� 鈥� Gert Blignaut, South African beef exporter

In August 2023, we brought you an episode on South Africa hosting about 70 heads of state from different parts of the world. They included China鈥檚 Xi Jinping, India鈥檚 Narendra Modi and Lula da Silva of Brazil, whose nations, along with Russia, form part of a bloc known as BRICS.

Founded in 2009, this group aims to promote economic co-operation and increase trade among its member states. Russia鈥檚 Vladimir Putin couldn鈥檛 attend because of the International Criminal Court warrant of arrest against him, because of claims relating to the on-going war in Ukraine.

At that two-day meeting held in Johannesburg, it was announced that Egypt, Ethiopia and several other developing economies were joining the bloc from the start of 2024. And this year, South Africa started exporting beef to Saudi Arabia, one of the countries who鈥檝e been invited to join BRICS.

So, what do these developments mean? Is Africa starting to see the benefits of aligning with BRICS? Does America and its western allies have a credible economic rival? Or is it all a pie in the sky?

To answer these questions, Alan Kasujja sits down with South African beef exporter Gert Blignaut and Professor Patrick Bond from the University of Johannesburg.