South African scholar cites new BRICS opportunities for the Global South
South African scholar Mogomme Alpheus Masoga said that deepening practical cooperation within BRICS opens new opportunities for Global South countries to strengthen economic resilience and sustainable development. He said this in an interview with Xinhua published by ECNS.
Masoga, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning at the Central University of Technology, Free State, called BRICS an important source of global economic momentum. According to him, this is facilitated by the scale and growth of the economies of emerging market countries.
Cooperation beyond trade
The scholar noted that the significance of BRICS expansion is not limited to increasing the number of participants. In his assessment, cooperation within the grouping is increasingly extending from traditional trade to infrastructure, digitalization, green energy and technological innovation.
In Masoga's view, increased trade and investment within BRICS, infrastructure financing and cooperation in payment systems can diversify markets, strengthen supply chain resilience and expand opportunities for development financing. He linked the importance of such interaction to growing protectionism, geopolitical tensions and the restructuring of supply chains.
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Technology and South Africa's interests
Masoga separately described China as an important driver of practical economic cooperation in BRICS, particularly in the digital economy and artificial intelligence. He believes that China's technological capabilities and experience can support joint research, skills development, digital infrastructure and technological solutions in BRICS countries.
The scholar also mentioned the BRICS AI Industry Cooperation Network, launched at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in 2025. According to him, the AI open-source initiative and action plan proposed by China can help Global South countries develop technologies in line with their own development needs.
For South Africa, participation in BRICS creates opportunities, according to Masoga, to overcome infrastructure constraints, expand trade and investment, advance the energy transition and strengthen industrial capacity, as well as support the broader African development agenda.
