Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira (L) and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the second day of the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 29, 2025. While China and Russia are the trailblazers in the campaign to break away from Western monetary systems, other member states, especially India and the UAE, are far more hesitant about this move, says the writer.
Image: AFP
Kim Heller
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, renowned for its festivals and extravaganzas, hosted a meeting of BRICS Foreign Ministers on 28-29 April 2025.
There was an ambience of celebration as a new BRICS member, Indonesia, and nine partner countries, including Cuba, Nigeria, Thailand, and Uganda, were welcomed. The might of BRICS has risen greatly over recent years with the inclusion of influential nations such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
With an estimated 35% of global GDP, BRICS is a rising force. At the Rio de Janeiro meeting, there was a flurry of harmonious talk on the need for unity in the face of global political and economic flux. There was buoyant lobbying for better representation of BRICS in the global governance orb, particularly in the United Nations.
There was recognition of the need to address issues of conflict resolution, food security, energy, new supply chains, and payment mechanisms to cull dependence on Western nations and boost sovereignty.
But unity of purpose was clouded by regional and continental divisions. The mood soured as discord fast became the main spectacle of the meeting.
While there was a broad denunciation of punitive US tariffs and how this would weaken multilateralism, there was no joint agreement on a uniform BRICS approach to new trade protocols or de-dollarisation. Although BRICS has developed a more vociferous voice, as it has expanded, this latest meeting shows how it has become more tongue-tied as it tries to represent a bigger reservoir of member and partner countries.
While the Chairperson's statement, issued by the Foreign Relations Minister of Brazil, Mauro Vieira, spoke out sharply against "unjustified unilateral protectionist measures" and "further fragmentation of the world economy", it did not adequately reflect the strong sentiments expressed by some nations against the dire threat of the US's new tariff regime.
Rather than being a signature of concurrence, the statement issued by the BRICS Chairperson after the meeting was a spin of compromise. The failure to agree on a joint statement is a serious indictment. It signals paralysis, not power. The additional economic muscle of BRICS is weighing heavily on it, as organisational fusion degenerates into friction.
The expanded BRICS is no homogeneous bloc, especially as it incorporates nations with divergent economic, political, and geographic pressures, goals, and allegiances. Some are the darlings of the West, while others reel under punishing sanctions. China's strong rally call for trade diversification and de-dollarisation was not widely supported by many member countries, including India, Brazil, and South Africa.
Trump's hand of friendship to India may have placed this country at odds with fellow BRICS partners, especially China and Russia. While China and Russia are the trailblazers in the campaign to break away from Western monetary systems, other member states, especially India and the UAE, are far more hesitant about this move.
At a time when BRICS should be uniting fully against the US's disruptive and disabling tariff regime, rivalries, regional interests, and political egos appear to be trumping common purpose. Opposition to South Africa's bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat from Egypt and Ethiopia reeks of regional competitiveness and political ambitions.
This downsizes the importance of African representation on the high-level Security Council. Africa needs to develop a united strategy for world representation rather than a competitive and divisive one. BRICS is increasingly asserting itself as an architect of a new world order. But unless it heals its internal cracks, it will be more power keg than a bastion of power.
BRICS's capacity and dexterity to achieve a more significant economic imprint on the world stage and boost its share of voice and influence will be severely imperilled by internal rife. BRICS has the potential to reset and recalibrate the coordinates for global reconfiguration and herald in a whole new world.
But unity needs to be rock solid, and a healthy balance of bilateral, regional, and continental interests must be achieved. If member states flex their muscle at the expense of collective power, BRICS will fail to win the bigger battle for meaningful global influence. The hegemony of the West cannot be broken by a divided BRICS. BRICS needs to box smart.
The shifts in the geopolitics of the world have been tremendous since BRICS was formed. There is potency in diversity, but divisions and contention between members or overdominance by powerhouses such as China must be kept in check.In February 2025, Donald Trump declared that the BRICS nations "have broken up" and that "BRICS is now dead'.
In response, Brazil's President Lula da Silva boldly stated that BRICS is committed to ending "US dollar dominance no matter what". But with ruptures showing, it appears as if BRICS is disempowering itself. Unity is King.
If BRICS cannot unite, Trump will be victorious, and the West will continue its reign of domination. The expanded BRICS bloc could collapse on the crack of disunity, placing its enormous promise of being an economic kingmaker at risk. This would be a devastating outcome for developing nations. The approaching BRICS summit in July in Rio de Janeiro will be decisive. It must be a festival of unity and resolution for BRICS.
Bold decision-making on de-dollarisation, greater representation in the United Nations, and the activation of advantageous trade protocols and systems must trump insular rifts. If BRICS fails to drive itself forward, on the fuel of unity and purpose, the opportunity for a more equitable global order will crumble.
This would be a sorry betrayal of the Global South by BRICS. All under the watch of Donald Trump and his Western allies, who will celebrate a horrific BRICS fracture.
* Kim Heller is a political analyst and author of No White Lies: Black Politics and White Power in South Africa.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.