The upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa will focus on development, especially that of developing countries, including African countries [Xinhua]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that BRICS is the right type of multilateral organization that can increase collective cooperation on global affairs and development, particularly in Africa.
Lavrov’s comments came ahead of his five-nation African tour.
Speaking to the monthly Hommes d’Afrique magazine, Lavrov said that decisions taken by the bloc during the summits have helped create a multipolar global community, and push economic and political interests of the developing world to the fore.
He also highlighted that South Africa will this year host the BRICS Summit, a golden opportunity for African development to come into focus.
The New Development Bank (NDB) can positively impact African growth, he said.
In August 2017, the African Regional Centre of the New Development Bank (NDB) was launched by then-South African President Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg.
The African Regional Center will allow countries in the continent to have access to the $100 billion NDB.
The BRICS Bank has 23 projects at various stages of preparation for 2017 to 2018, with a total lending amount of $6 billion, NDB President K.V. Kamath recently said.
“We expect [the NDB] to operate not only in the Republic of South Africa, but in other countries of the continent in the future, particularly through the Africa Regional Center (ARC), which was set up last August in Johannesburg,” he said.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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