It is another club of nations which aims to assert itself as a powerful pole, able to counterbalance the influence of the Western powers gathered within the G7, the group of the 7 countries currently said to be the richest on the planet. And as if by a sort of coincidence, this group is made up of countries with a so-called liberal capitalist economy, politically close to the United States of America. The Brics, which take their name from the initials of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (South Africa), do not hide their desire to be a counter-power against the influence of North America and its allies. They are going to try to demonstrate this at the summit which has been taking place since yesterday and until tomorrow in Johannesburg in South Africa, in the presence of all the leaders of this group of States, with the exception of the Russian Vladimir Putin, who failed them at the last minute, because of an arrest warrant from the ICC.

In their objective to change the geopolitics of the world, the Brics have already, for some time, affirmed their desire to end the hegemony of the American dollar in the commercial exchanges of the world. They created the New Development Bank (Nbd), at the head of which was placed last March, the former President of Brazil, Ms. Dilma Roussef. The bank’s official mission is to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects. It grants its financing at preferential rates and in currencies other than the king dollar. It is undoubtedly to affirm their desire to do politics differently from the G7 that the Johannesburg Summit was opened to leaders from more than fifty countries, including Macky Sall from Senegal. 

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And this is where this summit particularly arouses our interest. It was particularly noted that the President of Senegal, despite a resolutely pro-Western policy, inherited moreover from all his predecessors, and never faulted, has for some time taken a malicious pleasure in siding with the opponents of the West. Things are particularly notable since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, between Russia and the countries of the NATO bloc. All the pressures – quite strong – which he had to face, from his « friends », could not convince President Macky Sall to strongly condemn the invasion of Ukraine,
or to adopt on the international scene, the anti-Russian positions of the United States of America and its European and Japanese allies.

And also on the economic level, the Senegalese President is particularly critical of the development policies advocated by international organizations, the Bretton Woods system in particular. Since the appearance of the coronavirus epidemic and the paralysis it has created for the world economy, President Macky Sall has constantly pleaded for more facilities in the disbursement of funds held by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), particularly in favor of countries which, like Senegal, have implemented ambitious programs to revive their economy. He continues to denounce the biases in the ratings of the major rating agencies, which never hesitate to devalue the efforts made by African states in general, and the global South in particular, in the management of their economic environment. However, the opinion of these rating agencies is decisive when it comes to the rates at which African countries can borrow on the international market.
The strength of Senegalese diplomacy is such that it influences the positions of many African countries, as the Western allies have been able to realize, and they are following Senegal’s rapprochement with the BRICS with concern. But if countries like Algeria and Egypt have formally applied to join this group, this is not yet the case for Senegal. Which is just as well, because except by very strong complacency, we won’t have much of a chance. It is also doubtful to see in the near future, the Brics be called the Brincss (Brazil, Russia, India, Nigeria, China, South Africa and Senegal). The 5 countries that launched the BRICS not only share economic power, they also have a very strong political influence on world affairs, in addition to great military ambitions. The combination of these 3 elements is fundamental to obtain an entry ticket to the group, different from invitations to the summit, just good for filling family photos.

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This explains why countries like Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, ahead of South Africa, Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, as well as Pakistan, a nuclear power in Asia and rival of India, are not members of the BRICS, despite their presence at the Johannesburg Summit. On the other hand, we can bet that with a little effort and a lot of political will, countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, if they affirmed their candidacies, would have a chance of widening the circle of 5. This would lead to a major geopolitical upheaval in a region that is most sensitive to global stability. Hence the question of whether the Americans and their allies could let it go. As for other African countries, such as Senegal, their leaders will be able to boast for a long time to have been very photogenic in family photos…

By Mohamed GUEYE / mgueye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH