Nigeria has been admitted as a partner country of the BRICS bloc, a coalition of emerging market economies formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The move marks a significant step in Nigeria’s growing global influence, aligning one of Africa’s largest economies with the bloc’s objectives of fostering South-South cooperation and reforming global governance.

BRICS, which now represents over half the world’s population and 45% of global GDP, added Nigeria as its ninth partner, alongside countries like Belarus, Bolivia, and Iran. While Nigeria’s partnership status, granted in October 2024, allows participation in BRICS meetings, it does not provide voting rights. Nigeria, as a major oil producer, strengthens BRICS’s economic clout and adds to the group’s push for alternatives to the US dollar in global trade.