Do the Brics Countries Still Have Enough Shared Characteristics to Be a Meaningful Group? Discuss.

Do the BRICS countries still have enough shared characteristics to be a meaningful group? Discuss.

INTRODUCTION

BRICS is the acronym for the countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Previously known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the name changed to BRICS when South Africa joined on the 24th December 2010. The term BRIC was first used by Jim O’Neill while discussing some of the larger emerging market economies (O’Neill, 2001). At that time, on a PPP basis, BRIC made up 23.3 % of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) (Piper, 2015). The BRICS are among the fastest and largest emerging market economies. According to various projections, it is only a matter of time before China becomes one of the largest, if not the largest economy worldwide.

The BRIC countries held their 1st summit in Yekaterinburg with the respective leaders of each countries. When South Africa (SA) joined the group, it clearly denoted BRICS as an emerging political group and was shown in the IMF voting reform in 2010. However it is to be noted that SA differs from the general BRICS characteristics with regards to:

1. The size of the economy
2. The growth rate
3. The demand for a stronger political voice

Its economy is relatively small, growth rate slow-moving and has the smallest population amongst the 5 countries. The decision for SA to join BRIC is nonetheless understandable as it is the most developed African country and thus might be a gateway into Africa (Piper, 2015).  

LITERATURE REVIEW

From when O’Neill first mentioned BRIC, their collective share of global economy has more than doubled. In 2001, BRIC had a share of only 8% as compared to BRICS’ share in 2014 which amounted to 20%. Furthermore, the foreign exchange reserve of those five countries, at about 43% in 2015, keep rising.