BRICS New Development Bank not announcing new members – Maasdorp

The New Development Bank of the BRICS group of nations will not be announcing new members at the BRICS Summit in South Africa this week, its Chief Financial Officer Leslie Maasdorp said.

The bank, which was set up in 2015 to give BRICS members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa a greater say in financing infrastructure than in Western-led institutions like the World Bank, is keen to attract new members to boost its capital base after U.S. sanctions on Russia hobbled its lending.

The NDB, which now also has Egypt, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates as shareholders, is under pressure to boost local currency fundraising and lending as the BRICS nations seek to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar and develop the BRICS.

“The process of ratifying new countries is happening at the discussion of the (BRICS) leaders, which they are having without us as the bank,” Maasdorp said.

“There will be no announcements this week,” he said, adding that it was “likely” there would be more new members applying this year, but that the timing was dependent on political processes in the countries that want to join.

At least 15 potential new member countries – including Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Argentina – are under consideration by the governments that are the bank’s shareholders, Maasdorp said.

Reuters/Hauwa Abu