At the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum held in Moscow late last month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Africa is one of the primary vectors for the development of BRICS over the coming decades. The geopolitical heavyweights within the bloc – Russia, China and India – indeed have an interest in strengthening their presence on the African continent to advance their respective strategic imperatives. For India and China, the focus is primarily economic: They are scaling up investments and commercial engagement to gain greater control over global value chains. For Russia, its return to Africa is driven by a desire to assert its status as a global power and to promote a shift toward a multipolar world order.

The presence of BRICS in Africa, where global actors are already locked in a competition for influence, is altering the existing balance of power. In a number of African nations, economic engagement with BRICS now surpasses that of European or American partners as well as international organizations. For instance, over the past decade, BRICS countries have increased their exports to Africa to $309 billion from $187 billion. Furthermore, a number of African nations are already closely linked to the organization: South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia are full members of BRICS, while Algeria, Nigeria and Uganda participate as partner countries. Several other states on the continent have also expressed interest in joining. At the same Russia-Africa forum, Moscow highlighted several promising initiatives: the creation of an informal BRICS cooperation platform involving African diamond-producing nations, the establishment of a BRICS grain exchange and the representation of Africa within the BRICS New Development Bank.

Nevertheless, engagement between African nations and BRICS member states currently tends to take place on a bilateral basis rather than through the framework of the organization itself. Though it is true that the intensification of sanctions pressure on Russia, alongside the tariff war between the U.S. and China, has prompted BRICS members to deepen their dialogue and strengthen cooperation, each country largely continues to prioritize the pursuit of its own national objectives, including in Africa.