Algeria has formally applied to join the BRICS group and submitted a request to become a shareholder member of the BRICS Bank. The Algerian President, Abdelmadjij Tebboune, revealed this development during his recent visit to China, where he expressed Algeria’s eagerness to open new economic opportunities and strengthen its partnerships with countries like China.
“We officially applied to join the BRICS group, we sent a letter asking to be shareholder members in the bank … Algeria’s first contribution in the bank will be $1.5 billion,” Ennahar quoted Tebboune as saying.
The BRICS group, which currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, represents a significant portion of the global populations and economy, accounting for more than 40% of the world’s people and approximately 26% of the global economy.
Algeria’s bid comes in the midst of what some have called a worldwide eagerness for a geopolitical reconfiguration, with many in the Global South having shown signs of displeasure with the West’s dominance over global affairs.
Amid the ongoing Ukraine war and the surging ideological clash between “the West and the Rest,” more than 40 countries are said to have expressed interest in joining the BRICS group.
But some analysts have warned against the allure of the BRICS group in the global south, arguing that explicitly picking the Russia-China axis is not a strategically sound choice in a context of geopolitical chaos that requires strategic ambiguity.
Indeed, Algeria has recently come under fire from members of the European Parliament and the US Congress.
In September of last year, 27 bipartisan US members of Congress criticized Algeria’s arms imports from Russia and called for the North African country to be sanctioned under the “Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act.”
Similarly, 17 members of the EU Parliament lambasted Algeria in November of last year for politically and financially supporting Russia by being “among the top four buyers of Russian arms in the world.”
