17th BRICS Summit in Brazil

The 17th BRICS summit took place in Rio de Janeiro from Sunday to Monday. Participants included not only the official eleven members of the alliance of states, but also the ten official partner countries and several other states and institutions as observers. On the African side, the member states South Africa and Ethiopia took part at the highest level, with President Cyril Ramaphosa and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attending, respectively. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on the other hand, was represented by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. Of the two African partner countries, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu attended in person, while Uganda sent Vice President Jessica Alupo. In addition, Angolan President João Lourenço attended as current Chairman of the African Union and Kenya was represented at ambassador level.

Meanwhile, the absence of China’s President Xi Jinping, who was represented by Prime Minister Li Qiang, attracted particular attention, which observers see as an indication of Beijing’s domestic political priorities and a weakening of the importance of this year’s summit. For Xi, it was the first time in over a decade that he did not attend a BRICS summit in person or virtually. Russian President Vladimir Putin only attended online due to the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court.

The topics of the summit were the priority areas defined by this year’s Brazilian BRICS presidency: global health, trade, investment and finance, climate change, artificial intelligence, a multilateral peace and security architecture and strengthening the institutions of the BRICS. In the final declaration entitled Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance, the BRICS states adopted 126 commitments in these areas. According to analysts, however, these are mainly well-known reform demands and initiatives that reaffirm the BRICS countries’ long-standing priorities. These include calls for the reform of multilateral institutions, including the redistribution of voting rights in the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as support for the African position on the reform of the UN Security Council.

In the fight against climate change, a framework was adopted to promote better access to climate financing including concessional loans and private investments. This includes the Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF) initiated by Brazil, which is to be adopted at the COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in November and shall be endowed with USD 125 billion for the protection of rainforests. In the field of artificial intelligence, the BRICS countries called for inclusive global regulatory debates. The summit presented the BRICS Multilateral Guarantees Initiative as a tangible result. Modelled on the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, it is intended to secure infrastructure and development investments in the Global South through investment guarantees and thus reduce investment risks. However, it is assumed that the process of designing this instrument will continue for the next year.

The summit was characterised by geopolitical tensions and differences with the USA. While the BRICS countries condemned protectionist measures and unilateral action, they avoided directly mentioning the USA and President Donald Trump. The latter reacted with harsh criticism to the summit and announced additional punitive tariffs of 10% against countries that support BRICS policies, as the alliance would have an anti-American background. The recurring discussion within the alliance about reducing dependence on the US dollar in international trade is seen by the BRICS states themselves as a measure towards a fairer world order and a reduction in dependencies. This is also what is often cited as making the alliance attractive to participating African countries. BRICS now represents 48% of the world’s population and 39% of global economic output. Nigeria’s President Tinubu and Angola’s President Lourenço called for more inclusive global structures and cited BRICS as a platform for strengthening multilateralism.

Meanwhile, the extent to which BRICS will be able to fulfil participating nations wishes remains to be seen. On the one hand, experts point to structural challenges. Trade relations within the BRICS countries – particularly with China, which accounts for almost half of the BRICS gross domestic product – are often characterised by imbalances, particularly from an African perspective. On the other hand, observers believe that the alliance’s effectiveness is limited by geopolitical tensions between member states. Rivalries between member states such as China and India, Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as Egypt and Ethiopia pose challenges, as do the different foreign policy orientations of new members. The majority of member states remain closely intertwined with the USA in economic terms, but in some cases also in terms of security policy, such as Egypt and Ethiopia. In the case of Saudi Arabia, this leads to the curious situation that the country is already counted as a member state on the official BRICS website, but has not yet formally joined.

After years of the BRICS’ growing importance, experts therefore believe that the current summit has also highlighted some of the alliance’s limitations. The coming months will show how the BRICS states implement the agreed plans. The decisive factor will be whether the alliance succeeds in coordinating the different interests of its members in order to play an important role as a platform for cooperation in the Global South and as an actor in the reform of global governance structures.

Five African heads of state visit the White House

US President Donald Trump invited five African heads of state to the White House in Washington for a joint lunch on Wednesday. The heads of state and government from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal were invited. The publicly broadcast discussion focussed on economic policy issues. Trump emphasised the economic potential of the African continent and outlined his ‘from aid to trade’ approach, according to which the USA wants to shift its focus in its relations with Africa to economic partnerships and trade. He also referred to the USA’s contribution to regional security and in particular to the peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was brokered by his country (Press Review 27/2025). Among others, Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who was the first to speak, praised Trump’s commitment in this context. For their part, the presidents, most of whom are from West Africa, emphasised the economic potential of their countries, from raw materials to agricultural products, and invited US investors to participate in various projects.

The selection of the five countries invited initially caused some astonishment, as they play a rather limited role in world affairs in terms of the size of their economies. However, they possess significant, partly untapped raw material deposits, including crude oil and natural gas, manganese, gold, phosphates and rare earths. Gabon, for example, is home to 25% of the world’s manganese deposits. 22% of China’s manganese supply, used in the production of batteries and stainless steel, comes from the Central African country. In addition to securing strategic raw materials, the containment of Chinese influence may also have played a role for President Trump, with the majority of West African presidents emphasising the economic potential of their countries, from raw materials to agricultural products, and inviting US investors to various projects. According to observers from the invited countries, security policy aspects and the topic of migration also played a role in the selection of the five guests. Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Mauritania, for example, face varying degrees of challenges in the fight against drug trafficking, issues that are a high priority for the Trump administration. Gabon is an important partner in the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and could be considered to host a future US base. Mauritania and Senegal are also considered important transit and origin countries in the context of migration. Between 2023 and 2025, around 20,000 people from Mauritania and hundreds from Senegal are said to have attempted to travel illegally to the US via Nicaragua. Liberia is said to be on the list of countries with which the US would like to negotiate the admission of deported third-country nationals, including criminals.

At the same time, the meeting took place against the backdrop of a realignment of the United States’ global and domestic policy priorities under Trump’s leadership. The dissolution of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is also putting pressure on countries in West and Central Africa. According to the Center for Global Development, US’s support for Liberia amounted to 2.6 percent of gross national income – the highest percentage in the world. Most recently, leading politicians from the continent also pointed out the negative consequences of US trade policy and visa restrictions for Africa–US relations during the U.S.-Africa Business Summit (Press Review 26/2025). According to African experts, it therefore remains questionable whether the five countries were able to derive any real benefits from the meeting with Trump. At the very least, the US President stated that the countries would ‘probably not’ be subject to tariffs. Meanwhile, one moment that attracted particular attention on social media was Trump’s inappropriate praise for Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s command of English. Observers labelled the comment as insensitive or dismissive, as it suggested Trump’s ignorance of Liberia’s historical background. English is the official language of Liberia – a legacy of its founding in the 19th century as a settlement area for freed, formerly enslaved people from the United States. One US Member of Parliament labelled the remark as ‘peak ignorance’ and accused Trump of blatant racism. Liberian diplomats, however, explained that Boakai was not offended and that Trump had recognised the similarities between American and Liberian English.

Which concrete outcomes will follow from this meeting remains to be seen. However, Trump is expected to announce a broader summit with additional African heads of state and government in the near future, likely to take place later this year, possibly in September during the United Nations General Assembly.

In other news

The 13th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) has been taking place in Morocco since Saturday. The women’s football tournament, which is held every two years, should have taken place in 2024, but was postponed until July 2025 due to the Olympic Games in Paris. Twelve African national teams will be competing for the continental title and qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup until the end of the month. Hosts Morocco opened the tournament with a thrilling 2-2 draw against Zambia and are harbouring title ambitions after finishing as runners-up in 2022. Record champions Nigeria, who have won nine of the previous twelve editions of the tournament, and defending champions South Africa are also among the favourites. There was a major surprise even before the tournament began: The Cameroonian national team, which had participated in every edition of the tournament since its current format was introduced in 1998 and finished as runners-up three times, failed to qualify for the first time. WAFCON is regarded as the most important tournament in African women’s football and is attracting increasing international attention. The African Football Confederation (CAF) has doubled the prize money for the winner this year to 1 million US dollars and wants to further promote the professionalisation of the sport. For many players, the tournament also offers a platform to recommend themselves to international clubs.

Event Information

On Saturday 26 July 2025, the life and work of contemporary witness Ruth Weiss will be honoured with a special event in Tübingen to mark her 101st birthday. The centrepiece will be the vernissage by artist René Böll entitled ‘Adaptations with East Asian ink’. The exhibition combines East Asian aesthetics with literary references to Friedrich Hölderlin, classical Chinese poetry, Heinrich Böll and Ruth Weiss herself. Guests of honour at the event include former Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir and Tübingen’s Mayor Boris Palmer. The President of the German Africa Foundation, Dr Uschi Eid, will hold the laudatory speech for Ruth Weiss, who was honoured with the highest South African order in 2023 for her contribution to the fight against apartheid and is also an honorary prize winner of the German Africa Foundation. The exhibition opening will take place at the MUSEUM cinema in Tübingen. Participation is free of charge, please register in advance until 21 July 2025. The event is aimed at anyone interested in contemporary political history, art and the impressive life’s work of Ruth Weiss. The exhibition can also be visited from 28 July to 3 August 2025 at the Westspitze Innovation Centre in Tübingen. You can find further details and the full programme of the event here.