Johannesburg: Member of South African parliament and grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela, Zwelivelile Mandela, told Sputnik that he was looking forward to the 2024 BRICS summit in Russia.
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia, which will assume the rotating BRICS presidency next year, will host the bloc’s next summit in October 2024 in the city of Kazan.
“We are looking forward to seeing the next summit in … Russia next year and this is where we think a lot of decisions will be undertaken,” Mandela said on the sidelines of the current BRICS summit, taking place in Johannesburg from Tuesday to Thursday.
The South African lawmaker also believes that it may take another one or two BRICS summits before new members are allowed to join the bloc as “there are still a number of things that need to be put in place in terms of criteria and conditions for that.”
For many emerging economies, BRICS provides an alternative to such traditional global institutions as the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund, he added.
BRICS unites the world’s largest developing economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. About two dozen countries have expressed their interest in joining the bloc, South Africa’s BRICS Sherpa Anil Sooklal said earlier this month.
