Cairo: Egypt has submitted a formal application to join the five-nation BRICS alliance of developing countries, according to Georgy Borisenko, the Russian ambassador to Cairo.
"Egypt has applied to join the BRICS group, because one of the initiatives that BRICS is currently engaged in is the maximum transfer of trade to alternative currencies, whether national or the creation of some kind of joint currency. Egypt is very interested in this," Borisenko was quoted as saying.
BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The senior diplomats from 12 additional nations, including Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, attended a meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers in June in Cape Town.
The BRICS has been working to increase the size of its membership because many analysts believe the group will control the global economy by 2050. The Russian envoy further said that Egypt has been looking to boost trade and economic cooperation with Russia.
"New payment mechanisms are being created for trade transactions," Borisenko added.
The BRICS countries make up almost a third of the world's economies and 40% of the world's population. Recently, the group's members have grown and their economies faster than the G7.
The development comes after Egypt joined the BRICS bank, the New Development Bank (NDB). The Egyptian lawmakers had welcomed the agreement in January, saying it could help the crisis-hit country to reduce demand on US dollars.
The call to ditch the dollar in settling overseas trade has been getting louder with more countries joining the league. Egypt has become the latest entrant to shed the US currency in trade with several member states of the BRICS economic bloc.