The BRICS Business Council has provided an update on its work thus far this year, reflecting on progress made and the challenges posed by the inclusion of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates into the BRICS Plus alliance in January.

The council’s working groups have been instrumental in addressing a range of initiatives aimed at fostering cooperation, development and economic growth among BRICS nations.

"The work of the agribusiness working group this year built on some of the key themes that we started discussing in South Africa last year," BRICS Business Council agribusiness working group chairperson Wandile Sihlobo said.

Speaking during a virtual update on September 13, he emphasised the importance of deepening trade within the BRICS community, noting that even before the new members were added, BRICS represented a significant agricultural market, valued at about $300-billion.

"If you now consider the new countries that have been added in BRICS, this community has become an even bigger agricultural market,” Sihlobo said.

However, he also acknowledged that the group faced key challenges, such as high import tariffs and phytosanitary barriers.

"What we seek to do this year, then, is to think about policy propositions and programmes that we can present to political principals to try to deal with the issue of trade barriers," Sihlobo said.

BRICS Business Council aviation working group chairperson Mpumi Mpofu added that, over the last four years, she had seen the global aviation sector ‘ravaged’ by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I’m happy to indicate that the rebound in air transport now marks a new era for air travel," she said.

Mpofu noted that the aviation working group had been working to improve air connectivity between BRICS nations, including the promotion of a multilateral air services agreement, which aimed to enhance city-to-city connections between BRICS countries.

She stressed that these efforts were intended to promote policy, trade and investment among BRICS nations, while also establishing a direct link to the African Continental Free Trade Area.

"This is intended to uplift the African economy and link it to other countries to ensure better trade facilitation, tourism and economic growth,” Mpofu said.

BRICS Business Council digital economy and AI working group chairperson Ziaad Suleman outlined the working group's focus on four core areas: connectivity, digital skills, small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) and core technology.

"If people are not connected, then they are simply excluded from the digital landscape," he remarked, stressing the importance of connectivity to enable participation in digital platforms such as digital skills and digital medicine.

On the topic of skills, Suleman noted that "… skills in a digital environment allow for growth and meaningful purpose, not only in large but smaller enterprises."

He also highlighted the importance of helping SMMEs scale through digital efficiency, which will lead to reduced unemployment.

"Ultimately, if the smaller businesses are growing, they will participate more meaningfully in the mainstream economy and thereby employ more people,” Suleman said.

He further discussed the group's work on developing platforms, data security, AI and cloud applications, as well as expanding partnerships across Africa.

BRICS Business Council financial services working group chairperson David Jarvis reflected on the progress made in the past year, stating that the South African financial services working group had contributed to the development of the transition finance framework and the BRICS framework for voluntary carbon markets.

"Africa remains, in principle, in support of a BRICS reinsurance system," he said, adding that the group was actively engaging with relevant authorities to move this initiative forward.

Additionally, the group has been working with the South African Reserve Bank on various payment system initiatives and continues to explore the creation of a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) fund.

"We're still exploring the modalities for an SME fund that would propel investments within the SME space for BRICS members," Jarvis remarked.

On the issue of credit rating agencies, he noted broad alignment on the need to create alternative rating agency options and confirmed that the group had provided comments on the Credit Rating Alliance code of conduct.

BRICS Business Council energy, green economy and climate working group chairperson Mojabeng Manthata shared that her group's mandate had been expanded this year to include carbon mitigation and adaptation efforts.

"The working group focused on the three pillars that are carried through from the South African chapter of 2023," she stated, referencing the BRICS Energy Skills Atlas and the BRICS Energy Research Cooperation Platform.

Manthata noted ongoing collaboration with the New Development Bank to establish the Clean Energy Fund, while the BRICS Energy Cooperation Platform continued to serve as a marketplace for the BRICS community.

"I’m delighted to share that during the Russian chapter, two additional initiatives were added," she said, referring to the BRICS ‘fairy tales’ initiative, which is a collection of folk tales about renewable energy, and the integration of national carbon markets aligned with the Paris Agreement.

BRICS Business Council infrastructure working group chairperson Irvindra Naidoo provided an assessment of South Africa's infrastructure needs, estimating that R1.6-trillion in public sector investment and R3.2-trillion from the private sector are required by 2030 to meet growth and development targets.

"The infrastructure working group is primarily focused on finding ways for business to more effectively partner with government to increase the rate of infrastructure investment," he explained.

Key initiatives include growing the infrastructure project pipeline, improving logistics connectivity, and exploring innovations in project preparation, climate financing and public-private partnerships.

Naidoo emphasised that the construction and logistics sectors stand to gain significantly from increased activity in these areas, with broader benefits extending to agriculture, mining and manufacturing.

BRICS Business Council skills development, applied technology, and innovation working group chairperson Mapule Ncanywa reported the signing of five training bases across KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Gauteng provinces.

"We also cooperated with China to set up a workshop for AI and virtual reality," she said, adding that training activities this year included extensive collaboration with Russia.

Ncanywa said that the working group had been preparing young people for upcoming competitions in Russia, covering fields such as cybersecurity, blockchain, space engineering, and building information modelling.

BRICS Business Council manufacturing working group chairperson Nizam Kalla focused on job creation efforts through initiatives such as the production of electric vehicle batteries and the development of manufacturing capacity for medical devices, in line with the MedTech master plan.

"The manufacturing working group's key driver is job creation," he said, highlighting that the group had showcased 37 different projects over the past four years, spanning sectors from the green economy to automotive, chemicals, logistics and healthcare.

The working group has also introduced the Annual Manufacturing Excellence Award aimed at encouraging continuous improvement in the manufacturing sector.

BRICS Business Council trade and investment working group chairperson Advocate Mtho Xulu noted that the group had a stable year this year, implementing recommendations from the 2023 yearly meetings.

He detailed four focus areas for this year: economic partnership, infrastructure development, finance cooperation, and knowledge exchange.

"Our work this year was housed under four focus areas," he said, emphasising the importance of creating a standing calendar of trade investment opportunities and unlocking investment potential within BRICS.

The working group's initiatives also include the creation of financial instruments tailored to BRICS members' conditions and ensuring mutual benefit among member countries through knowledge sharing and capacity building.