New Delhi, India- President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on BRICS governments and business communities to use the grouping as a platform to deepen investment and trade, reshape existing economic patterns and transform the economies of countries across the Global South.
Addressing the BRICS Business Forum on Friday, the President said the ambition of governments and business communities must extend beyond increasing intra-BRICS trade to deepening productive relationships between economies.
“We cannot accept a future where Africa supplies the minerals on which the next generation of industries depends, while value addition and manufacturing take place elsewhere.
“If we are to change where value is created, we must also change where investment is directed. We must direct investment towards manufacturing and beneficiation, industrial technologies, energy systems, infrastructure and logistics,” Ramaphosa said.
The BRICS Business Forum brought together business leaders, Ministers and Heads of State to discuss trade, investment, finance, technology and development challenges shaping the BRICS economic agenda.
The forum serves as a platform to present and discuss key ideas and suggestions from the BRICS Business Council and plays an important agenda-setting role.
Its conclusions and the Business Council’s recommendations are regularly reflected in BRICS Summit declarations and follow-up work plans, particularly in areas such as intra-BRICS trade, investment, the digital economy, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), standards cooperation and value chain integration.
Ramaphosa urged companies to invest not only to access markets, but also to establish production facilities and develop local capabilities.
“The question is no longer whether there is potential within BRICS, but whether we have the ambition, the instruments and the partnerships to convert this potential into economic value for our people,” the President said.
He said the Council must serve not simply as a forum for consultation, but as a mechanism for developing commercial relationships and productive partnerships.
“As BRICS, we find ourselves at an inflection point. As the global economy is reshaped, as trade patterns shift, as technological advances accelerate and climate pressures increase, countries and companies are compelled to reconsider where they source, produce and invest.
“For us, this is an opportunity to shape a more resilient, diversified and inclusive economic future for the Global South. For too long, developing economies have participated in global value chains mainly as suppliers of raw commodities.
“Value creation, technology and higher-value manufacturing remained concentrated elsewhere. We should not reproduce that pattern within the expanded BRICS,” President Ramaphosa said.
He highlighted that economic cooperation cannot be the responsibility of governments alone.
“Instead, we need a compact: governments create the enabling conditions for trade and investment, and business seeks out the opportunities for production and commerce.
“Our economies have confronted profound challenges over the intervening years, yet we have also shown that adversity can create opportunity.
“Resilience is not simply the capacity to withstand disruption. It is the capacity to transform disruption into new capabilities and partnerships,” the President said.
The President arrived in New Delhi in the Republic of India on Friday, 11 September 2026, where he will attend the 18th BRICS Summit.
READ | President Ramaphosa pushes for stronger BRICS trade
The Summit, taking place from 12 to 13 September under India’s chairship, comes as BRICS seeks to strengthen cooperation among its expanded membership and advance the interests of the Global South.
-SAnews.gov.za
