The groups expansion is bringing more developing nations to the global decision-making table, Raymond Matlala has told RT

BRICS is giving countries of the Global South a stronger voice in international affairs as the group expands and pushes for a more multipolar system of global governance, Raymond Matlala has told RT.

Following the last week's 18th BRICS Summit, the founder and executive chairman of the South African BRICS Forum, said the addition of new members, partner states, and outreach countries is helping bring more developing nations into global decision-making.

"BRICS has always been positioning itself to speak for the Global South," Matlala stressed.

Former South African National Assembly member and Pan-Africanist scholar Dr. Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalalasaidthat BRICS could help reshape international political and financial institutions from an African perspective. She noted the continent's vast mineral wealth remains tied to an economic system in which raw materials are largely exported for processing and value addition elsewhere.

"Everything centers around what we call the petrodollar - the struggle for resources that Africa offers or raw minerals that Africa is offering, which the West direly needs for the finished product," she told RT.

Litchfield-Tshabalala argued that reducing dependence on the US dollar should form part of a broader effort to change the international financial system. "We need to break the hegemony of the dollar," she said, adding that African countries face unfavorable conditions when borrowing through traditional financial institutions.

She also called on African countries to challenge their external debt burden, arguing that much of it is owed through institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, which she described as serving the interests of former colonial powers.

Litchfield-Tshabalala said BRICS offers developing countries an opportunity to build alternatives based more heavily on their own currencies and economic priorities. With the group's economic and political influence growing and more countries from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia coming on board, she stressed, "BRICS for me truly is the future."

The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi, India, on September 12-13. BRICS was established by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. The group expanded further in 2024 with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, while Indonesia became a full member in January 2025.

(RT.com)