Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro has expressed a preference for closer ties with the US and European Union, rather than the developing or emerging nations which the BRICS — comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — have historically represented.

There were fears among the other BRICS members — especially South Africa — immediately after he was elected, that Bolsonaro might even pull Brazil right out of the grouping. He was apparently persuaded not to do so on the grounds that BRICS membership could help Brazil, if the agenda were to be narrowly focused on boosting Brazil’s own economy.

Ramaphosa said after arriving in Brasilia on Tuesday that “Brazil’s priorities for its 2019 BRICS chairship are innovation, fighting transnational crime, health and promoting trade and investment with a focus on infrastructure development and possible Public-Private Partnerships.

Brazilian officials have expanded on these priorities to include co-operation in science, technology and innovation, particularly in the digital economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution; and for more energy to be put into co-operation in the fight against transnational crime, especially organised crime, money laundering, drug trafficking and terrorism.

Brazil also wants co-operation among BRICS countries in efforts to recover stolen money and would like to see measures to bring BRICS private companies closer to the New Development Bank (NDB) so the bank can help fund their investments and other businesses.

The Brazilians said they also wanted to see BRICS create an e-BRICS network of hi-tech startup companies; greater co-operation among the investment agencies of the five member states and also greater co-operation in research fighting TB, including the development of a vaccine.

At the 2018 summit in South Africa, the five leaders agreed to establish a vaccine research centre which would be located in South Africa. It is likely the Brasilia summit will move to implement that decision.

At a seminar of the Institute for Global Dialogue earlier in 2019 Renata Albuquerque Ribeiro, a researcher at the Laboratory of Global Political Analysis (Labmundo), in Brazil said that “building strong ties with the West is a strong priority for Bolsonaro”.

She noted that during the election campaign Bolsonaro had criticised the then incumbent Workers Party for being too political and getting too close to countries of the global South, which did not benefit Brazilians.

“Thus, Bolsonaro’s foreign policy is more focused on becoming more technological and professional while pursuing more favourable alliances,” she said.

Some analysts believe that Bolsonaro would dilute any declaration from the summit that was too critical of the West

Ramaphosa noted in a statement on his arrival in the capital Brasilia that five BRICS nations represented about 42% of the global population, 23% of GDP, 30% of the world’s territory and 18% of global trade. He said he and his fellow leaders were expected to interact with the BRICS Business Council at a business forum before the summit.

“South Africa’s membership of BRICS enables the country to employ additional and powerful tools in its fight to address the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality through increased trade, investment, tourism, capacity building, skills and technology transfers,” he said.

“These objectives are further realised through BRICS’ Financial Institutions like the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Africa Regional Centre (ARC).” The ARC is the African branch of the NDB and was playing a catalytic role in providing financial and project preparation support for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in South Africa and Africa.

At an institutional development level, South Africa derives crucial benefits through the Track II institutions such as the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Think-Tank Council, as well as the creation of the BRICS Inter-Bank Co-operation Mechanism. Furthermore, the establishment in 2016 of the BRICS STI (Science, Technology & Innovation) funding mechanism and Framework Programme, is an example of the vital support for capacity building, as well as skills and technology transfer.

Ramaphosa said the summit would advance the BRICS Partnership on the New Industrial Revolution.

“South Africa has made concerted efforts to place the African Continent and the Global South on the agenda of BRICS and to harmonise policies adopted in regional and international fora with those pursued in BRICS, i.e. Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

He added that institutions such as the NDB, ARC and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement — which would enable BRICS states to provide financial support to a fellow member which got into balance of payments problems, were intended to make tangible and impactful contributions toward the development objectives of South Africa and BRICS.

Ramaphosa will also highlight to his fellow BRICS leaders South Africa’s priorities in chairing the African Union and the start of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area next year. DM