Factbox: The Evolution of BRICS and Its Challenges Today

Source: Al-Monitor | Original Published At: 2026-09-12 02:03:54 UTC

Key Points

• BRICS leaders are meeting in New Delhi for the group's annual summit amid geopolitical tensions and disruptions to energy markets, shipping, and global trade.
• The BRIC acronym was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in 2001, and the countries began meeting as a bloc in 2009; South Africa joined in 2011.
• BRICS expanded in 2024 with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia joined in 2025, while Saudi Arabia has been invited but has not formally accepted.
• The bloc's major institutional achievement is the New Development Bank, established in 2015, which has approved 139 projects worth nearly $43 billion, though it suspended new transactions in Russia due to sanctions.
• BRICS is working on a payment system to link members' fast payment systems and reduce reliance on dollar-based banks, while exploring central bank digital currency links and settling more trade in national currencies.
• The group faces challenges from divergent interests among members, with Russia and China viewing BRICS as a geopolitical counterweight to the West while India and Brazil emphasize economics and reform.
• Western nations view BRICS cautiously as a potential shifter of geopolitical balance, while U.S. President Donald Trump has called it anti-American and threatened tariffs over moves toward a BRICS currency or alternatives to the dollar.