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Ethiopia Applies To Join BRICS

Country has the fastest growing GDP rates in Africa and its second largest population

Ethiopia has made an official application to join the BRICS grouping and hopes for a positive decision on its application to join the BRICS member states, Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Meles Alem has stated, saying “We expect BRICS will give us a positive response to the request we have made.”

Other recent requests to join BRICS has been filed by Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and the UAE, while Egypt has recently joined. The BRICS already unites Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

ETHIOPIA

GDP: US$111.3 billion
GDP Per Capita: US$1,475
2022 Growth Rate: 5.8%
Population: 120.3 million

Ethiopia is a member of the AfCFTA free trade agreement, which unites Africa (with the sole exception of neighboring Eritrea) in abolishing 96% of internal trade tariffs. This means that goods can be sourced on a pan-Africa basis, consolidated and then used for production, resale onto the African market or exported. Ethiopia has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and is Africa’s second most populous country.

Many properties owned by the government during the previous regime have now been privatized or are in the process of privatization and the liberalization of its financial sector is scheduled in the near future. However, certain sectors such as telecommunications, financial and insurance services, air and land transportation services, and retail, are considered as strategic sectors and are expected to remain under state control for now, although this may change dependent upon the success of existing planned liberalisation.

Almost 50% of Ethiopia’s population is under the age of 18. Even though education enrolment at primary and tertiary level has increased significantly, job creation has not caught up with the increased output from educational institutes. The country must create a significant number of jobs every year to keep up with population growth. There is an increasing movement of manufacturing jobs from Asian and Middle Eastern countries to Ethiopian production as a result of the inexpensive labour pool.

The 2023 annual BRICS Summit is scheduled for August 22-24 in Johannesburg. South African Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said at a press briefing that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa would complete consultations with BRICS leaders on the details of holding the event.