Last March, a report prepared by the Information and Decision Support Center affiliated with the Egyptian Cabinet addressed the economic relations between Egypt and the BRICS group. The report said Egypt has good economic relations with the founding member states of BRICS because of the joint trade, industrial, and investment cooperation. These countries also work to strengthen economic ties with Egypt through projects in the fields of trade and energy.

The volume of trade between Egypt and the bloc in 2022 reached USD 4.9 billion.Recent data indicates that Egypt's exports to the bloc countries increased by 13 percent during the period from January to August, especially to India, Russia, and Brazil, although BRICS is not a free trade agreement that provides customs exemptions to the bloc's member states.

The report said: "Targeting the bloc, reducing inter-dealing transactions in US dollars will ease the pressure on foreign currency in Egypt, of which the dollar represents the largest share, which is in the interest of improving a number of local economic indicators." The report added: "Egypt's presence as a member state of the BRICS Development Bank will provide opportunities to obtain soft financing for its development projects. In addition, Egypt's presence within the bloc means that it will benefit from the fruits of the success of its goals, which are close to being achieved, with regard to creating a global system that gives more weight to developing and emerging countries."

However, after more than 12 months since Egypt joined the bloc, has Egypt been able to benefit from the decision to join?

Expectations of easing pressure on hard currency

The Russian city of Kazan hosted the 16th BRICS summit in late October, which lasted about three days. Global interest in the summit of the economic alliance, which nearly doubled in size in 2024, making it a competitor to the Group of Seven major industrialised countries. In a recent report, CNN said that BRICS had more influence after Egypt, the UAE, Iran, and Ethiopia joined last January, especially since membership in the alliance has become an attractive opportunity for countries seeking to enhance trade, investment,  and economic development.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's participation in the 16th summit of the group under the slogan "Promoting Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security," along with the participation of 24 leaders, after Egypt joined as an official member, is expected to bring Egypt many economic gains that serve the national economy.

The Egyptian President's speech at the summit addressed Egypt's economic reform, enhancing the role of the private sector and improving the investment climate. It also presented the most important promising investment and economic opportunities in the country, which contributes to attracting more foreign investments from the group's countries, whose members' GDP amounts to about USD 30 trillion.

The BRICS group, which includes the largest economies, accounts for 25 percent of the world's exports, represents about 30 percent of the global economy, and produces about 35 percent of the world's grains.

The Egyptian economy is expected to reap great benefits in the flow of investments from the bloc countries, in addition to increasing the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and the bloc countries in local currencies, which reduces the pressure on hard currency. Egypt's membership in BRICS also opens new markets for Egyptian products after increasing their numbers, especially since the GDP of the bloc countries is expected to exceed its counterpart in the G7 this year by a large percentage.

The BRICS trend to establish a global financial system and introduce a new currency, especially with the increase in the number of bloc countries, develops inter-trade between Egypt and the bloc countries and reduces Cairo's dependence on hard currency, which improves the value of the pound, especially since China, the second largest economy in the world, is the largest exporter of raw materials globally, which contributes to increasing the volume of its imports to Egypt in local currency.

The national industry is also expected to improve, especially since Egypt has greatly succeeded in developing local manufacturing and the manufacture of most previously imported goods.

(Photo by Adobe). "The volume of trade between Egypt and the bloc in 2022 reached USD4.9 billion."