BRICS: How an acronym from Goldman Sachs morphed into a strategic economic bloc

BRICS — meaning Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — is widely regarded as the pillar of emerging economies. And other countries want in.

The BRICS economic bloc is made up of five of the world’s biggest emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The acronym started as “BRIC” in 2001, when Goldman Sach’s then-chief economist Jim O’Neill predicted that the economic weight of Brazil, Russia, India and China could eclipse the world’s biggest economies in the next decade.

A decade passed, and that didn’t happen. But leaders of BRIC nations did hold their first official summit in Russia in 2010, with South Africa joining the group a year later. Since then, they have met regularly to discuss cooperation on global issues.

One of the group’s major achievements was the establishment of the New Development Bank, set up in 2015 by the BRICS countries to support infrastructure and development projects in BRICS and other developing countries.

Over recent months, BRICS has generated buzz partly due to other emerging markets expressing interest in joining the bloc. Argentina and Iran have submitted applications to join, while countries like Indonesia were named as potential new members.

In the wake of Russia, a key BRICS member, waging war on another sovereign state, how will BRICS move forward in the future? Watch the video above to learn more about the positioning of BRICS in the global order.