By 2025, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has become one of the world’s most ambitious economic integration initiatives. Uniting 54 African nations into a single market, the AfCFTA aims to boost intra-African trade, foster industrialisation, and lessen reliance on external entities. Concurrently, BRICS, which has expanded to include Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, and strategic partners Nigeria and Uganda, forms a global economic alliance capable of challenging Western-dominated systems. The key question is not whether these frameworks can coexist, but rather how they can collaborate to build a sovereign and prosperous Africa within a rebalanced global order.

AfCFTA and BRICS are not competing visions but rather complementary forces that can propel Africa into a new era of economic assertiveness. The crucial factor is how nations such as Ethiopia utilise their BRICS membership. This partnership should empower African industries, enhance infrastructure, and facilitate regional trade, rather than merely replacing Western dependency with BRICS dependency.

Ethiopia’s Role in Repositioning African Trade

Ethiopia’s entry into BRICS is timely, given its population of over 126 million, burgeoning manufacturing, and major infrastructure developments such as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Ethiopia aims to act as a crucial link between East Africa and global markets. BRICS members, especially China, India, and Russia, already have significant trade and investment ties with Ethiopia. This new membership can foster regional integration. For instance, BRICS-backed investments in Ethiopia’s logistics, including the Djibouti corridor and industrial parks in Dire Dawa and Hawassa, can further the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)’s objectives of improved connectivity and cross-border commerce.

BRICS operates as a platform for mutual benefit, prioritising sovereignty and multipolarity, rather than functioning as a donor group. This approach aligns seamlessly with the African Continental Free Trade Area’s (AfCFTA) principle of “African solutions for African problems.” The increasing strategic alignment of countries like Nigeria and Uganda with BRICS exemplifies this. Given their substantial markets, abundant natural resources, and youthful populations, their participation in BRICS-related discussions significantly amplifies Africa’s collective voice and negotiating strength. This enhanced position enables Africa to more effectively influence global trade regulations, currency frameworks, and the design of development finance solutions specifically tailored to the continent’s requirements.

South–South Solidarity: Reimagining Global Influence

South Africa and Egypt, the initial African BRICS members before 2023, have been instrumental in shaping BRICS-Africa relations. South Africa hosted the landmark 2023 Johannesburg BRICS Summit, which paved the way for new African members and prioritised intra-African trade and investment. Egypt, leveraging its strategic location and advanced infrastructure like the Suez Canal Economic Zone, serves as a crucial link between North Africa, the Arab world, and sub-Saharan economies. The integration of development is further enhanced if BRICS investments are directed towards supporting AfCFTA corridors, such as the Cairo–Cape Town Highway or the Trans-Saharan Trade Route.

Financing, Digital Futures, and African Agency

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) projects that the AfCFTA could boost intra-African trade by more than 50% by 2030. Achieving this, however, necessitates more than just trade agreements; it requires significant investment in capital, technology, infrastructure, and coordinated policy. The BRICS bloc, particularly through institutions like the New Development Bank (NDB), offers an alternative financing source for African infrastructure projects, free from the stringent conditions often imposed by Western lenders. As a BRICS member, Ethiopia now benefits from increased access to the NDB, enabling it to direct funds towards projects that align with the AfCFTA and generate positive ripple effects for its neighboring countries.

A significant opportunity for BRICS and AfCFTA collaboration lies within the digital economy. While Africa’s digital infrastructure is inconsistent, it is vital for facilitating services trade under AfCFTA. By 2025, countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are already at the forefront of fintech, mobile money, and e-commerce. BRICS nations, particularly India and China, possess extensive knowledge in digital inclusion and scalable technological solutions. Their involvement could be instrumental in establishing a continent-wide digital marketplace, breaking down physical barriers, and integrating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into regional value chains.

A clear sense of African agency is crucial in this alliance. AfCFTA should remain central to Africa’s economic strategy, with BRICS serving as a supportive platform for African priorities, not a defining one. As more African nations align with BRICS’ values of non-interference, mutual respect, and development cooperation, the continent can collectively advocate for global trade governance reforms that better reflect its interests.

The collaboration between the AfCFTA and BRICS aims to redefine Africa’s global involvement, focusing on African leadership, economic justice, and sovereignty, rather than merely redirecting dependencies. Strategic cooperation among nations like Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria, and Uganda within this framework will not only boost intra-African trade but also enable Africa to engage in global trade on its own terms.

Written By:

Dr Iqbal Survé

Past chairman of the BRICS Business Council and co-chairman of the BRICS Media Forum and the BRNN

*Sesona Mdlokovana

Associate at BRICS+ Consulting Group

African Specialist

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