BRICS: Ramaphosa places multilateral reform at the heart of New Delhi summit

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in New Delhi on Friday, September 11, for the 18th BRICS summit, scheduled for September 12 and 13, with priorities including the reform of multilateral institutions and increasing investments in Africa, according to the South African presidency.

He is set to participate in a closed-door session on Saturday focused on more inclusive global governance and strengthening multilateralism. Leaders are expected to discuss the reform of the United Nations system, the international financial architecture, and the multilateral trading system.

On Friday, during the leaders’ dialogue with the BRICS Business Forum, Ramaphosa urged the group to move beyond being merely a trade platform. He advocated for Africa to avoid remaining a supplier of raw minerals while transformation, technology, and higher value-added production are concentrated elsewhere.

The South African president called for investments to be directed more towards manufacturing, raw material processing, industrial technologies, energy, infrastructure, and logistics. Pretoria also aims to use the summit to enhance exchanges among BRICS members and mobilize capital for African infrastructure related to the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Ramaphosa is also expected to participate in a South Africa-India economic roundtable on Saturday focused on trade and investment. The South African presidency specifically mentions pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, critical minerals, and the electric vehicle battery value chain as targeted sectors for new Indian investments.

The summit brings together the eleven full members of BRICS against a backdrop of wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as tensions among major powers. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the group have already called on Friday for a reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to enhance the representation of emerging economies.

On Sunday, Ramaphosa is scheduled to speak during the open session dedicated to inclusive global growth. The summit is expected to conclude with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration.