Nigeria Aims To Join BRICS By 2026
Move would see BRICS possess 80% of oil and 73% of gas global reserves.
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar, has announced that the country intends to become a member of the BRICS group of nations within the next two years. Tuggar added that the move is part of the Nigerian government’s efforts to ensure representation and influence on the global stage and that the West African nation is open to joining any alliance that has constructive, and well-defined goals.
“Nigeria has come of age to decide for itself who her partners should be and where they should be. Being multiple aligned is in our best interest,” the diplomat said.
The BRICS group currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were all invited to join the BRICS in August, although Argentina may now not join.
Nigeria, however, which is also pushing to join the G20, believes that being part of BRICS would offer it economic and political leverage.
“We need to belong to groups like BRICS, like the G20 and all these others because if there’s a certain criteria, say the largest countries in terms of population and economy should belong, then why isn’t Nigeria part of it?” Tuffar stated.
Africa’s largest economy has previously expressed a desire to join, but has yet to submit an official application. Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented Abuja at the recent BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, stated in August that the government must consult with the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council before applying for membership.
Nigeria has a GDP of US$448 billion, a population of 213 million and a GDP per capita of US$2,500. It has 5.91 trillion cubic metrics of proved natural gas reserves, the 9thlargest in the world. This means that the BRICS countries and their immediate allies (such as Turkmenistan and Venezuela) control 73% of all global gas reserves.
Nigeria also holds an estimated 37.1 billion barrels of proved crude oil reserves as at the beginning of 2023. This means that the BRICS nations plus their allies (Iraq, Libya) hold over 80% of all proven global oil reserves. To compare, the United States holds 2.1% of global oil reserves. The largest European oil producers, Norway and the UK, possess 0.31% and 0.17% of global oil reserves.
Should Nigeria join, the BRICS would have member states in North, South, East and West Africa. If Nigeria applies to join in 2025, two years from now, that would mean its actual membership would commence from January 1st 2026.