BRICS Declaration Presses Africa’s Case on Trade and Reform
AFRICA · BRICS
Key Facts
- —What BRICS is A bloc of eleven large economies, originally Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, built as a counterweight to Western institutions.
- —Who met Leaders gathered in New Delhi on 12 and 13 September, chaired by India’s Narendra Modi.
- —What they agreed A declaration of 140 paragraphs on trade, payments, climate and global governance.
- —Africa’s members South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia are full members. Nigeria and Uganda are partners, a lesser status.
- —On tariffs The declaration voices serious concerns about unilateral tariffs. It reserves the word condemn for sanctions.
- —Who spoke for Africa Cyril Ramaphosa in person. Nigeria’s president did not attend.
The BRICS declaration says a great deal about trade, and the exact verbs matter. Voicing serious concerns about tariffs and condemning sanctions are not the same thing.
Eleven countries adopted a declaration in New Delhi last weekend that runs to 140 paragraphs. Three of them are African, and two more African countries sat at the edge of the room.
Who Is Actually in BRICS
The membership is wider than the name and narrower than the coverage suggests.
Full members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt and Ethiopia joined on 1 January 2024. South Africa has been a member since 2010. Saudi Arabia has never publicly confirmed its own accession.
A second tier exists. Nigeria and Uganda are partner countries alongside Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Partners do not sign the leaders’ declaration. Nigeria is a partner, not a member, and that distinction is routinely lost in reporting.
What the Declaration Says About Trade
Paragraph 21 sets out the trade position, and the language is careful.
It notes that the multilateral trading system has long been at a crossroads. It warns that trade-restrictive actions inconsistent with World Trade Organization rules threaten to reduce global trade further.
Then the operative sentence. The bloc voices serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade.
Paragraph 22 uses stronger language for something else. It condemns unilateral coercive measures contrary to international law, meaning economic sanctions and secondary sanctions.
Paragraph 108 opposes carbon border adjustment mechanisms, which matters directly to African exporters selling into Europe.
The Payments Question
Much of the coverage has described the creation of a BRICS Payment Task Force. It was not created in New Delhi.
The body already existed. It was named in the Rio de Janeiro declaration of July 2025 and mandated under the earlier Kazan process.
Paragraph 90 acknowledges its work towards pragmatic solutions for cross-border payments. It encourages further work on making payment and messaging systems interoperable.
What is genuinely new is elsewhere. The summit welcomed a Logistics Supply Chain Cooperation Framework and a Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2030.
What Africa Got Into the Text
Several paragraphs speak directly to African interests.
The declaration supports Ethiopia’s bid to join the World Trade Organization, and its presidency of the COP32 climate conference.
It acknowledges China’s zero-tariff treatment for 53 African countries, an arrangement worth more to African exporters than most BRICS communiqués.
It backs Ethiopia’s African Union-endorsed candidature for the International Civil Aviation Organization Council.
Paragraph 113 recognises the 2026 UN Water Conference, co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal in Abu Dhabi in December.
Who Said What
Cyril Ramaphosa attended in person. On 12 September he joined the closed leaders’ session on inclusive global governance and strengthening multilateralism.
All of us adhere to a multilateral system, he said the following day. One where there is no dominance of one player or country over others.
South Africa listed three priorities. Trade and investment within BRICS, industrialisation and value addition, and African infrastructure aligned with the continental free trade area.
Nigeria was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who delivered President Bola Tinubu’s address on 13 September.
Speaking for himself, Shettima was direct. I believe the world is greater than one nation, he said, and Nigeria would continue to support the World Trade Organization.
Why the Verbs Matter
Africa’s three BRICS members trade heavily with the countries whose tariffs the declaration addresses.
Language that condemns creates diplomatic obligations. Language that voices concerns does not.
The bloc chose the stronger verb for sanctions, which affect Russia and Iran, and the weaker one for tariffs, which affect everyone.
For African exporters, the carbon border paragraph is the one with the most immediate commercial consequence, and it attracted the least attention.
More: Africa news and analysis, every day from The Rio Times.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When was the BRICS summit?
In New Delhi on 12 and 13 September 2026, chaired by India as 2026 chair.
Which African countries are BRICS members?
South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia. Nigeria and Uganda are partner countries, a lesser status.
What did the declaration say about tariffs?
It voices serious concerns about unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures. It condemns unilateral coercive measures, meaning sanctions.
Was a payments body created?
No. The BRICS Payment Task Force already existed and was named in the 2025 Rio declaration.
Did President Tinubu attend?
No. Vice President Kashim Shettima represented Nigeria and delivered his address.
What did Ramaphosa say?
That BRICS members adhere to a multilateral system with no dominance of one country over others.
Sources: BRICS New Delhi Declaration (pmindia.gov.in), SAnews, DIRCO, Channels TV, Federal Ministry of Information, Nigeria.
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