The Cabinet has approved Ghana's bid to join BRICS, the Minister of Foreign Affairs,Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced.
Brazil, Russia, India, and China orginally formed BRIC as an intergovernmental organisation of major emerging economies and developing countries designed to increase global influence and counter Western-dominated institutions.
South Africa joined in 2010, changing the acronym to BRICS.
It has recently been expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, which joined in 2024, followed by Indonesia.
Ten additional partner nations are Belarus, Cuba, Malaysia, and Vietnam, which joined as partner countries in 2025.
Mr Ablakwa made the announcement of Ghana's cabinet approval to join at a joint press briefing with the visiting Minister of Foreign Affairs of India, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Accra on Tuesday (October 6, 2026).
He said the decision aligned with President John Dramani Mahama's vision for transformative economic growth under what government calls the New Economy.
"The President Mahama-led administration believes that BRICS offers an incredible opportunity that aligns with his vision for economic growth. You do know that we are moving from stabilisation now to a transformative economic path, what we are calling the New Economy, and the Cabinet has approved seven pillars under the New Economy.
“To anchor the President's new economic vision, we believe that we must diversify our international cooperation," Mr Ablakwa said.
He added the decision also stemmed from the foreign policy priorities championed by President Mahama, including resource sovereignty and the need for Ghana to determine its own path without being boxed in by conditionalities from a few international institutions.
"So, these are the reasons that went into the cabinet decision. But we are now going to take baby steps to formally apply and to seek the support. You know you have to be accepted. You must be admitted," he said.
Mr Ablakwa expressed confidence that Ghana can count on support from BRICS members, saying Ghana has excellent relations with all founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and new members including UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran, all of which have diplomatic missions in Accra.
"We have excellent relations with all of them. They all have diplomatic missions here, and we know we can count on them to support Ghana's bid. And we've just had a BRICS summit, a very successful summit, if I may say so myself, in New Delhi, and I think it's understandable that the message of BRICS would resonate in different parts of the world," he said.
Options
He said the decision to join BRICS does not mean Ghana is going to walk away from its traditional partners,
BRICS offers us that opportunity to have options in development agenda, you want to have options," he said.
“We value that relationship, but we must have new friends, and we must also begin to look at our historical partners like India, Brazil, China, already these are countries that we have enormous trade and investment engagements with," he said.
Mr Ablakwa said trade with India has more than doubled from around $3 billion in 2024 to about $7 billion currently, while China remains a major economic player in Ghana.
"So this is an important partner, and you know China, it's also a very major economic player in our country. And so BRICS gives us that opportunity to transform this economy, and to align with the President's vision, with the transformative agenda, because we are taking off, and we don't want to remain at just stability.
“We want an economic growth which is sustainable, which creates jobs, which industrializes our country," he said.
"We want resource sovereignty, where we can be treated as equal partners. We don't want a situation where we continue to export raw materials. We want to add value to the natural resources that we have, and we want to work with partners who have the same shared history and shared commitments. And you do know that competition helps, and we believe in a multi-polar world," Mr Ablakwa stated.
He said Ghana remains a member of the Bretton Woods institutions and founding member of African multilateral financial institutions, stressing that Afreximbank came to Ghana's rescue with about $700 million during the 2023-2024 financial crisis
Collective consideration
For his part, the Indian Foreign Minister said India has always been sympathetic to Ghana's aspirations.
Adding that, the government of Ghana’s aspiration is an issue of collective consideration.
“We have always been very sympathetic and supportive of Ghana's aspirations and goals. Obviously, this is an issue of collective consideration. So we have to see how that goes forward," he said.
