Nigeria—once the GDP king of Africa—has become a partner state of the BRICS group of emerging-market powers.

BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has been pushing to expand in recent years as it grows in clout and has accepted other countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates.

The group also has a number of partner states, including Malaysia and Thailand.

The enlarged alliance may challenge the dollar’s dominance in oil and gas trading and become a stronger counterweight to the Group of Seven industrialized nations.

Nigeria’s acceptance in the group was communicated in a statement on Saturday by the acting spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria has accepted the invitation to join BRICS as a partner country. The formal acceptance to participate as a partner country underscores Nigeria’s commitment to fostering international collaboration, leveraging economic opportunities, and advancing strategic partnerships that align with Nigeria’s development objectives,” it said.

“BRICS, as a collective of major emerging economies, presents a unique platform for Nigeria to enhance trade, investment, and socio-economic cooperation with member countries,” it added.

Nigeria, Africa’s most-populous nation, has been battling soaring inflation and will roll out new rules to simplify its tax system.

The current level of tax collection is one of the lowest globally, according to the World Bank, constraining Nigeria’s public finances and limiting how much it can invest in essential services and infrastructure.

Last month, China and Nigeria renewed a 15 billion yuan ($2 billion) currency-swap arrangement designed to boost trade and investment between the two countries.

Nigeria pushed ahead of South Africa as having the biggest economy on the continent in 2016, but its economic troubles have since seen it drop to sixth based on 2024 estimates.

South Africa is comfortably the biggest economy in Africa, followed by Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopia, Morocco and Nigeria.

SOURCE:One of South Africa’s biggest competitors joins BRICS – BusinessTech