South Africa hosting BRICS summit as bloc seeks to curb Western dominance

South Africa is hosting a summit of BRICS nations, a bloc that consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, with expanding the group and curbing Western dominance at the top of its agenda.

In an address ahead of the August 22 to 24 summit in Johannesburg, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his support for the bloc's enlargement.

"An expanded BRICS will represent a diverse group of nations with different political systems that share a common desire to have a more balanced global order," he pointed out.

Ramaphosa hosted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a state visit on Tuesday morning ahead of meetings with the grouping's other leaders later in the day.

The summit will also be attended by Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russian President Vladimir Putin will join the summit virtually.

The five-nation bloc accounts for 42 percent of the global population and about 26 percent of the world’s economy, according to the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.

The BRICS group of fast-developing economies is often seen as an alternative development partners to the Western economic and political hegemony.

Spread over the globe and with economies that operate in vastly different ways, the main thing uniting the BRICS is scepticism about a US-led “world order” they see as serving the interests of the US and its rich-country allies who promote international norms they enforce but don't always respect.

Boosting the use of local currencies of member states also remains on the summit's agenda.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi is scheduled to participate in the 15th BRICS summit at the invitation of Ramaphosa.

Iran is among dozens of countries that seek membership in BRICS and has submitted a formal application to join the body.

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