Tinubu arrives in Brazil for 17th BRICS Summit
Anthony Ailemen
Tinubu departs
President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, ahead of the 17th Summit of BRICS countries.
The word BRICS was coined from the names of the pioneer nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which came together under an informal grouping of emerging economies.
It also comprised of six coalition members, such as Egypt, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia which joined in 2024.
The 2025 summit is holding from July 6-7 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with special attention on ‘Global Governance reform’ and ‘cooperation among Global South Community.’
President Tinubu is attending the summit at the invitation of President Luiz da Silva of Brazil on the strength of Nigeria’s status as a ‘partner country.’
The Partner status is an upgrade from its previous guest status, which the country had enjoyed over the years.
After seven days in the Island of Saint Lucia, President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, departed for Brazil to attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Nigeria was formally admitted as the ninth BRICS partner country in January 2025, a status introduced at the 16th BRICS Summit in October 2024.
As a partner country, Nigeria can participate in BRICS meetings, summits, and initiatives, contributing to discussions and official documents.
With the global economy transitioning into ‘frontier for industries and technologies,’ opportunities exist in areas such as big data, artificial intelligence, solar, drones, gene editing, 3D printing, blockchains, Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, robotics and nanotechnology.
Countries such as China, India and Brazil are already well advanced in these technologies and Nigeria can attract investors in these areas to strengthen economic growth
It is also expected that Nigeria will use the opportunity to attract foreign direct investments from Brics members states, like China, India, and the UAE, with investors that are looking for opportunities abroad.
Nigeria could use the bloc’s annual summits to showcase investment opportunities in several sectors such as energy, solid minerals and agriculture
At the 2024 Summit in Kaza, Russia, countries such as Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Nigeria were invited to participate as observers.
But with the new status as ‘partner nations,’ Nigeria and other nations can now participate in the 2025 BRICS Summit
Recall that President Tinubu had left Nigeria on Saturday June 28 on a two- nations visit that first took him on a State Visit to Saint Lucia, at the invitation of that country’s government.
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