ASSESS BEFORE JOINING BRICS, APRM ADVISES ZAMBIA

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

Zambia should consider carrying out a thorough assessment of what benefits would be for the country joining the BRICS group, the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has said.

Zambia participated at the just-ended BRICS Summit in South Africa among other non-members for a group which has predominantly been for Brazil, India, China, South Africa and Russia.

APRM Zambia Chapter Spokesperson Guess Nyirenda told The Scoop that though joining the BRICS group may be a good alternative of the Western dominion, it would be important to make independent assessments if a decision to join was to be made.

 Mr. Nyirenda said Zambia must do its own sovereign assessment on whether the country would benefit from BRICS membership in terms of its economy.

“It should be very important that the African Union helps the African countries to see the benefits of joining the BRICS in terms of connecting to the super power multilateral companies but Zambia should take an independent assessment before joining the BRICS,” Mr. Nyirenda said.

Iran and Saudi Arabia were among six countries invited to join the BRICS bloc of developing economies in a move that showed signs of strengthening a China-Russia coalition as tensions with the West spiral higher.

Bloc heavyweight China has long called for an expansion of BRICS as it seeks to challenge Western dominance, a strategy shared by Russia. Other BRICS members support fostering the creation of a multi-polar global order. Brazil and India have both also been forging closer ties with the West