BRICS Alliance: a balance game

President Donald Trump of the United States has long crushed to crush Brics’s economic alliance. Initially coined as ” Bric ” by the economist Jim Jim O’Neil in 2001, he is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China.

South Africa joined the economic blockage in 2010, expanding the acronym to Brics and African representation to join this group of emerging economies that now include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, United Arab Emirates {Emirates Arabi United} and Indonesia.

The first official summit of the Bric was held in 2009 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, among the global financial crisis while the member nations tried to affirm greater influence on international financial institutions.

Since then the group has held annual leaders, gradually expanding its agenda to include not only economic cooperation, but global economic reform.

The 17th BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 6-7 July 2025, represents a significant moment in contemporary international relations. Under the presidency of Brazil, the Brics 2025 summit adopted the theme “strengthening the global cooperation of the South for a more inclusive and sustainable governance”.

This framework is a pointer to the wider aspirations for the reform of international institutions to better represent the interests of developing nations.

The group is determined to act as a counterweight for the West and to reduce the influence of global institutions. Nigeria joined BRICS’s ninth “partner” in January 2025 at a time when Trump was threatening to sanction the members of the group if they replace “the powerful US dollar with a new BRICS currency as a reserve currency.”

It is clear that Trump’s approach to counter Brics revolves around aggressive economic policies, including punitive rates and penalties to members.

And rhetoric aimed to undermine the efforts of the blockade to deviate and expand its influence. President Bola Tinubu has courageously participated in the 17th summit of Brics, against Trump’s threat to impose a 10 % rate in affiliated countries.

Nigeria is already benefiting from its partnership with the Brics countries. According to reports, his trade with them jumped to N5.1 trilioni in the first quarter of 2025, more than three times higher before joining the group.

The country has managed a budget of about 5% of GDP since 2019 and needs funding to pay deficits. The new BRICS development bank could be an important source of financing for investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture and many other Nigeria sectors.

The new development loans are also available in local currencies of the member countries. They must not earn foreign currency to reimburse loans. This promotes the stability of changes and promotes economic growth. The bank raises funds in local currencies of the member countries and lends them to member countries.

Nigeria could use its BRICS partnership to obtain the support of the group in its attempt to be included as one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Although Nigeria is not yet fully member of the block, the country’s partnership with the Brics countries is already opening opportunities for foreign direct investments {Ifdi} and economic cooperation.

According to reports, in 2024 Nigeria attracted $ 1.27 billion of foreign capital and its Brics partnership would further strengthen these economic ties and relationships could be used to develop its infrastructure, energy and industry.

Tinubu at the top of Rio met the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who promised to accelerate the existing agreements with Nigeria and has signed new ones in aviation, energy transition, agriculture, trade, defense, culture and counterclockwise.

The attention of the blockage on the creation of a multipolar world, in which more than two states have similar quantities of power, is consistent with the Nigeria foreign policy objectives aimed at reducing dependence on western powers.

Although Nigeria is currently a partner member, the government has expressed the clear intention of becoming a complete member of the Bric in the next two years.

This would allow the country to participate more actively to model the block policies and initiatives. Certainly the country would be able to use its economic opportunities and the population to guarantee a place at the negotiation table.

However, according to reports, some observers are concerned that the strong ties of Nigeria with the western powers and internal economic and political problems could support its ambition to fully integrate with Brics. The country should carefully balance its domestic interests with those of its allies and Western Bric.

So far, the Brics nations have chosen to ignore Trump threats and are going on exactly with what they intend to do: find an alternative to the US dollar for global trade.

There are currently the creation of a new currency to facilitate trade and reduce dependence on the dollar, in particular in response to US sanctions on Russia and other countries.

Without screwing his words, the president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, in a direct response to the repeated threats of Trump, said that “Brics is committed to ending the domination of the US dollar, no matter what.”

The Trump administration has historically used sanctions as a tool to counter threats perceived to the United States domain and this approach should continue. The sanctions on Russia, a key member of Brics, have already pushed the block to explore the alternatives to the dollar. His current aggressive position on sanctions is inadvertently feeding Brics’ de-colarization efforts.

Analysts say that by targeting Brics nations with economic pressure, Trump aims to weaken their ability to cooperate and challenge the hegemony of the United States on western financial systems.

Its threats of rates and economic sanctions also aim to discourage the aspiring members of BRICS to align with the block. That’s why these nations are strengthening their cooperation and pushing stronger for de-dollarization.

The result of this comparison will have significant implications for the global financial system. Under the presidency of Brics in India in 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “We will work to define Brics in a new form. Brics will mean building resilience and innovation for cooperation and sustainability …, we will first make this forum in the spirit of the centrics of people and humanity.”