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WEEK IN REVIEW: Xiomara Castro, President of Honduras, to Travel to China for First Visit Since Switch of Diplomatic Relations From Taiwan

Xiomara Castro, the president of Honduras, will travel to Beijing this week for her first visit to China since her government switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to the People’s Republic. Coffee trade is expected to be on the agenda and she will reportedly sign several (as-yet undefined) cooperation ...

BRICS FM Gathering Ends With Few Specifics Other Than a Renewed Appeal for Multipolarity

A two-day gathering in Cape Town of representatives from the five founding members of the BRICS group joined by foreign ministers from ten other major developing countries ended on Friday with a sweeping joint statement that called for a rebalancing of the global order away from the ...

Russia’s Foreign Minister Arrives in Cape Town for BRICS Meeting, Qin Gang a No Show

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday to participate in this week's planning meeting for the upcoming BRICS leaders summit in August. Qin Gang, China's foreign minister, will be noticeably absent, with ...

New Development Bank Wants to Finance More Projects Using Local Currencies Rather Than the U.S. Dollar

The New Development Bank (aka the "BRICS Bank") wants to reduce the use of the U.S. dollar when it finances projects in developing countries. The head of the Shanghai-based lender, Dilma Rousseff, told the bank's annual meeting this week that the ...

Russia Not the Only Big Issue At BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting This Week

The Foreign Ministers of the BRICS group will meet in Cape Town, South Africa, on Thursday. The meeting is an important step towards the BRICS summit in August. The South African government announced this week that attendees to both this week’s FM meeting ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Proposed New York Law Could Reshape Debt Negotiations Around the World

A bill currently under consideration in New York State could reshape sovereign debt renegotiations around the world by making private creditors accept the same losses as the U.S. government would as a sovereign creditor instead of holding out for a full payback.
The bill comes as countries like Zambia and Sri Lanka face their loan renegotiations being dragged out for years as U.S.-based private lenders stonewall to obtain better deals. 52% of the ...

The Uphill Journey to a BRICS Currency

The South African government announced in May that discussions around setting up a common currency will be on the agenda of the BRICS summit in August. Calls for the bloc, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, to work together to boost non-dollar trade have ...

South Africa Urges Caution on BRICS Currency as Global Yuan Use Creeps Up

The BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will discuss the feasibility of a joint currency at an upcoming summit in Johannesburg in August. Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, acknowledged that scheduling the discussion was prompted by calls from member states to move away ...

Amid Twin Political and Economic Crises, Tunisia Turns on West and Announces Intent to Join BRICS

The Tunisian government angrily pushed back against both the International Monetary Fund and the European Union over how to resolve the North African country's twin economic and political crises. President Kais Saied bluntly told the IMF on Friday that he ...

South Africa, China and Russia to Conduct Joint Naval Exercises

Russia, China and South Africa will conduct trilateral naval exercises in South African waters from 17-24 February. The three navies conducted similar exercises in 2019, and China-Russia exercises took place in the East China Sea in December. The exercises will include force ...

South Africa’s Ruling ANC Party Calls For BRICS Expansion

South Africa's ruling African National Congress party said the government should use its position as chairman of the BRICS group to welcome new countries to the China-founded bloc. “The ANC and ANC-led government should support the expansion of BRICS by admitting ...
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