Ethiopia, one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, has asked to join the BRICS bloc of emerging markets, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
The term BRIC was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in 2001 to describe the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
The BRIC powers had their first summit in 2009 in Russia.
Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Meles Alem said Ethiopia hopes for a positive decision on its application to join BRICS member states.
“We expect BRICS will give us a positive response to the request we have made” the ENA news agency quoted him as saying at a media briefing.
The diplomat noted that Ethiopia had officially applied to join the alliance.
Ethiopia will continue to work with international institutions that can protect its interests, he stated.
The country has the second-largest population in Africa, but its economy ranks only 59th in the world according to the International Monetary Fund.
According to report. is less than half the size of the smallest BRICS member South Africa.
BRICS countries account for more than 40% of the world’s population and about 26% of the global economy.