ABSTRACT
In a research paper entitled, “The World Needs Better Economics”, in the year 2001, Jim O’Neill (2001), an economist with Goldman Sachs, explained the state of the global economy, inter alia, in terms of the rise of four emerging market economies (EME’s): Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs). The quartet actually met for the inaugural Summit in June 2009 at Yeketrinaburg, Russia, and formalized themselves into a new “South–South” mini club, the BRICs. A year later, on Christmas Eve, South Africa was inducted at the third BRICs Summit meeting in Sanya, China, and subsequently, the grouping rechristened itself as BRICS. 1 The inclusion of South Africa further diversified the already-disparate transcontinental grouping, spanning far flung geographical spaces across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The fifth BRICS Summit in held in Durban on 27 March 2013 concluded the first cycle of BRICs summits.
