Nigeria joins BRICS as partner country, strengthening economic ties
The BRICS alliance has added Nigeria among 13 new nations officially as partner countries, according to an announcement at the BRICS summit.
According to list of the countries published on its X handle, Nigeria, Algeria and Uganda are three African countries invited to join the bloc as partners. Other countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
It is important to differentiate between BRICS members and BRICS partners. Unlike a BRICS partner, official members possess voting rights in bloc affairs; full participation in summits and meetings & complete commitment & representation of the bloc.
BRICS partners are only allowed selective engagement & participation in BRICS affairs; as well as remaining participants in other international initiatives without full commitment to BRICS. However all of the new BRICS partners do have potential to become full members in the future.
