BRICS Ready to Announce New Member Joining!

<p>&nbsp;BRICS heads of state will meet at the upcoming summit on August 22-24 in South Africa.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is also expected to see an announcement on the expansion of the group, where twenty-two countries are said to have officially applied to join.</p><p><br /></p><p>South Africa's BRICS Ambassador Anil Sooklal said on Wednesday that there will be a planned announcement on BRICS expansion at a gathering soon.</p><p><br /></p><p>BRICS consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.</p><p><br /></p><p>It has become an increasingly frequent mention this year as many see its establishment as challenging the power of the G7 and the United States in the eyes of the world.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Not only that, the group also plans to reduce the world's dependence on the US dollar which is considered unprofitable.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to Sooklal, representatives from 71 countries have been invited to attend the summit so far.</p><p><br /></p><p>He said, the event will be the largest gathering in recent times that brings together countries from the Global South** to discuss current global challenges.</p><p><br /></p><p>**Global South is a term that generally includes countries in the regions of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia (excluding Israel, Japan and South Korea), and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand).</p><p><br /></p><p>The following are the countries that have officially applied to join BRICS:</p><p><br /></p><p>United Arab Emirates</p><p>Saudi Arabia</p><p>Bangladesh</p><p>Venezuela</p><p>Argentina</p><p>Indonesia</p><p>Ethiopia</p><p>Bahrain</p><p>Mexico</p><p>Nigeria</p><p>Algeria</p><p>Egypt</p><p>Iran</p>