Through My Eyes

For those of you who are not familiar with BRICS, it is an acronym for the combined economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRIC, without South Africa, was originally coined in 2003 by Goldman Sachs, which speculated that by 2050 these four economies would be the most dominant. South Africa was added to the list on April 13, 2011 creating "BRICS".

As of 2011, these five countries were among the fastest growing emerging markets. It's important to note that the Goldman Sachs thesis isn't that these countries are a political alliance (like the European Union) or a formal trading association - but they have the potential to form a powerful economic bloc.

The main focus of this year's BRICS Summit was on the mandate and modalities of two institutions: the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Development Bank. The newly formed BRICS Business Council is to consist of business executives from each country and is expected to drive private sector partnerships among the BRICS countries.

The objectives of this Council include strengthening trade relations, promoting business relations, the transfer of technology and improved cooperation in the areas of skills development, banking, the green economy, manufacturing and industrialisation. Patrice Motsepe was elected as chairman of the Council. One of the projects, which were being discussed in the council, is the private sector construction of an undersea telecommunications cable to link the BRICS countries.

China's new president, Xi Jinping, attended the summit in Durban and admitted that the BRICS countries had a lot of work ahead of them. "The potential of BRICS development is infinite," he said adding, "The real potential of BRICS cooperation is yet to be realised." Together the BRICS economies accounts for 25 per cent of global output and 40 per cent of the world's population.

When we take all the African countries together, and they are growing much faster than many other countries - both developed and developing, they represent a sizeable economy and a very large population. Currently, trade between China and the African continent has reached 200 billion US dollars, (that is nearly R2 trillion) and it is growing at more than 30% per annum. At this rate, trade between China and Africa might equal if not surpass trade between China and USA or Europe.

BRICS Members have also agreed to setting up a development bank with seed capital of $50 billion, but how much each country would contribute and the voting structure of the board have yet to be defined.

It was Vladimir Putin who likened the BRICS nations to Africa's "Big Five". I heard that the Russians were appalled by some of the organization of the BRICS event and it almost led to fisty-cuffs when the Russian president was stopped at a security check to the conference. Anyway the tension lasted only for a short time because after only a few hours of plenary talks at the ICC, the BRICS heads of state retreated to a private nature reserve for closed-door dialogue with a score of African presidents about "unlocking Africa's potential" by supporting infrastructure construction. It must have been a real party - pity I was not invited.

The Chinese were not messing about either; its delegation took over an entire beachfront hotel. The presidential team arrived in Durban two weeks before the summit and refurbished a small section of the hotel, which included new wallpaper and carpets. The Chinese arrived with their own cleaners and cooks and there were strict protocols that entailed every last detail of the visit.

Many of us managed to have our own share of fun with the delegates and their entourage here on the North Coast of KZN for someone like me it was a serious eye opener.