Ramaphosa Non-Commital On Imminent BRICS Expansion

The Mail & Guardian reports that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the attendees of a BRICS Political Dialogue gala dinner that more countries are interested in joining BRICS, but many bilateral and multilateral settings on the expansion required "closer scrutiny and understanding" in order to "avoid unnecessary duplications."

• Several countries have openly expressed interest in joining the bloc. While South Africa is officially on board with the idea of expansion, there are sceptical voices in its ruling party and diplomatic community.
• Insiders told the Mail & Guardian that the country could lose its strategic importance within the bloc, were nations with bigger populations and GDPs, such as Egypt and Nigeria, allowed to join.
• There is a sense that Indian-Chinese tensions could complicate the bloc's expansion as well, with India recently blocking South Africa's request to move the upcoming BRICS summit to China.