In China, the red carpet is part of the culture

At this year’s BRICS summit in Xiamen, five other developing and emerging economies are in attendance. China has employed a "BRICS Plus" approach this year by inviting leaders from Egypt, Guinea, Mexico, Tajikistan and Thailand to attend the summit. The goal was for "a more broadly based partnership," according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Although BRICS is a grouping that also includes Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, china’s commitment to stronger partnerships and south-south development is evident if not unmistakable.

China’s policy to engage any country for development and cooperation purposes regardless of their history, political or economic system is conspicuously present in this year’s BRICS agenda.

It is China saying that development and prosperity cannot be exclusive to a few countries but rather shared, equitably, with the world.

Stronger partnerships, Brighter future

There is talk that the leaders may discuss expanding BRICS include new members. If this actually happens, it will breathe fresh impetus into the grouping, whose global influence has grown widely as it marks its tenth anniversary.

With 42% of the world’s population, the inclusion of new members into the bloc will only grow its demographic and numeric advantage. At a time when world growth is seeing a slump, BRICS has accounted for 50% of the increase in world growth, driven mainly by China and India.

The BRICS also account for 23 percent of global gross domestic product — a figure that is expected to steadily increase.

Global governance, BRICS and China’s time

At a time when America’s role and influence especially in the developing world is waning, BRICS must prepare to take global leadership as it embarks on another decade of its existence.

With America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate deal, the threat of further global warming and further catastrophic consequences of a changing climate will be for blocs like BRICS, together with other countries and organizations, to stop. China and India, two of the world’s leading greenhouse gases emitters' commitment to the deal is a good thing. The use of renewable energy and cutting dependence on coal to power emerging economies is also expected to be discussed at the summit.

At a time when countries are increasingly becoming protective, BRICS should champion globalization and free trade. The BRICS trade ministers have spoken out strongly for free trade and multilateralism. The BRICS spirit of openness, mutual benefit and inclusiveness should even be deepened going into the next decade.

BRICS and Africa’s opportunity

At the 2006 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, former Chinese President Hu Jintao opened the ceremony with a speech which he reminded African dignitaries and guests of the centuries-old trading relationship between China and Africa, and the ancient civilizations that bind China and Africa together.

As early as 2,000 years ago, ships were leaving the various ports in east China’s present day Fujian province sailing westwards. Navigating rough seas, the ships carried Chinese silk, porcelain; lacquerwork and ironware, white pepper, flax, spices, grape and pomegranate entered China- using sea routes, which came to be known as the maritime Silk Road.

Sino-African trade topped $188bn in 2015 while Chinese investment in Africa is projected to reach $200bn by 2020. In the past few years, China has improved the infrastructure of more than 50 African nations, created hundreds of thousands of jobs and seen its trade with the continent mushroom into a multi-billion partnership.

From the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway to the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway, China has shown that indeed it is and will be a reliable partner for Africa’s development. The Mombasa-Nairobi railway is Kenya’s biggest infrastructure project to date and would never have been possible without Chinese money, technology and manpower. It is both a spectacular engineering feat and an asset to cherish.

In Uganda, China is providing loan funding and manpower for a 600MW hydropower dam that will see the production of surplus energy once switched in 2020. As a country urbanizing at a fast rate, Uganda needs to increase the percentage of her population with access to electricity and attract investment that will create jobs and incomes. In the south of Kampala, China is providing funding and manpower for the construction of two expressways to ease traffic flow in and out of Kampala. As a developing country, Uganda needs this infrastructure to move her people and businesses.

Since the elevation of Sino-African relations to a strategic partnership level, China and Africa are bonding in amazing fashion. The Belt and Road Initiative has made this bond even stronger through encourage robust people to people connectivity.

By aligning itself with BRICS, Africa and the rest of the developing world will be on better ground to learn and benefit more.

A decade of progress, a future of strength

As the west’s role and influence in the developing world especially Africa reduces, the continent must embrace the hand extended by BRICS to share in this community of emerging economies.

The New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral financial institution created by BRICS countries in 2014 is one of the bloc’s biggest achievements over the last ten years. It presents an alternative for Africa to get credit to power its growth and economic targets. The institution is also critical in south-south cooperation, which is for global governance and economy.

Africa’s agenda 2063, a strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years is truly compatible with BRICS vision of having emerging economies have more say in the global economy. As Africa seeks to industrialize and modernize agriculture, BRICS presents not just a market but also capital and the critical technology and skills.

Ronald Kato is a journalist and broadcaster with the Vision Group in Kampala, Uganda. He is a 2017 fellow of the China-Africa Press Centre. Follow @RonnieKulabako on Twitter.