The group agreed to admit Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates following its summit in Johannesburg. Tebboune was seen begging in Moscow for a BRICS membership evoking political reasons while indulging in clumsy praise of Putin by playing on the chord of anti-Western sentiment. Myopic to his country’s actual economic and political weight, Tebboune’s arrogantly told Chinese state TV that Algeria represents to Africa what China represents to the world! But his hopes crashed on the realities of Algeria’s frail economy and sluggish growth rates. Nowhere is the resource curse more rampant than Algiers, whose economic growth is pegged on the price of gas and to a lower extent of the barrel.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 25, 2023 00:58 UTC