Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have officially confirmed their participation in the BRICS bloc after receiving invitations last year, according to South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor.

These five nations, along with Argentina, were invited to join the bloc during a summit in August held in Johannesburg, joining the existing BRICS members—Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa, Reuters reported.

However, Argentina has officially declined the invitation to join the BRICS bloc, as President Javier Milei, who assumed office, reversed his predecessor’s membership bid.

“With respect to the BRICS confirmations, five out of the six have confirmed. That is Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ethiopia, Iran … and Egypt,” Pandor told a news conference on Wednesday.

“Argentina has written to indicate that they will not act on this successful application by the previous administration to become full members of BRICS, and we accept their decision.”

BRICS membership

About 30 countries want to establish ties with the bloc. Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar said in November that Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, will seek to become a member of BRICS within the next two years.

The BRICS group has been aggressively pushing to change the order of the globe’s economic structure. The group’s primary intention is to dominate the global market by increasing its economic influence.

Collectively, the BRICS countries lay claim to 42% of the world’s population, 30% of the global landmass, and 24%of the global economic output.