The 2023 BRICS Summit
From August 22 to 24, 2023, South Africa will host the 15th BRICS Summit. The Sandton Convention Centre (SCC), located in Johannesburg, Gauteng, will host the summit.
Despite rumors that it would be moved to China so that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin could attend in a country that is not required to detain him on charges of war crimes, South Africa announced on Thursday that it will host the BRICS summit meeting in August as scheduled.
The BRICS nations were reportedly considering shifting the summit to China, which is not a member of the international court, according to South African authorities at the end of last month. They could yet decide to change the location shortly prior to the event.
BRIC collaboration began in 2006 when the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, and China met for the first time outside of the UN General Assembly.
Despite a warrant for Putin’s arrest being issued by the International Criminal Court, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed that the BRICS conference, to which Putin has been invited, will be “physical” next month.
Due to an arrest order for Putin related to the expulsion of children from Ukraine, South Africa has a responsibility as a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to detain him if he attends the discussions between the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
President Ramaphosa stated that “the BRICS summit is proceeding, and we are concluding our discussions on the format.”
![Cyril Ramaphosa the President of South Africa.](https://nilecitizens.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ram.jpg)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet responded to an invitation that was sent before the ICC indicted him on March 18; however, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are all planning to attend, according to South Africa’s Minister of International Relations, Naledi Pandor.
Despite claiming to remain neutral in the Ukraine war, South Africa has come under fire from the West for its close ties to Russia, including hosting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. President Ramaphosa as part of the BRICS outreach extended an invitation to all African leaders to come and have dialogue with BRICS leaders,” South Africa’s BRICS Sherpa Anil Sooklal said at a media briefing Thursday. Ethiopia, one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, asked to join the BRICS bloc of emerging markets, as announced by the foreign ministry.
The summit will discuss how the BRICS countries can partner with Africa to help the continent achieve economic growth, Sooklal said, noting that President Ramaphosa will host a dinner for BRICS leaders, which will also be attended by African leaders.