Clear criteria for expanding BRICS urged

He also suggested requiring "that no member country should engage in unfair economic practices in the form of excessive importation or exportation taxation, and that members who violate the fundamental principles will have their membership revoked".

Netswera said that BRICS nations contribute a combined 31.5 percent of the world's GDP, a figure that the International Monetary Fund expects to rise to 50 percent by 2030.

Should BRICS expand, new members could call for the name to be changed to reflect the additional economies, Netswera said.

Amid geopolitical challenges, BRICS can play a very important balancing role in ensuring its own interests as well as those of the developing Global South, he added.

Reform of the United Nations and its Security Council, the IMF and the World Bank is also expected to be high on the agenda of the BRICS summit, Netswera said.

"The post-World War II (Bretton Woods) world order has not guaranteed the liberties and freedoms of those in poorer nations, but has presided over their exploitation," he said.

"This reform should enable all nations of the world to have a voice on global affairs, even if it might be disproportionately organized."

Monyae said BRICS should align its core issues with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union's Agenda 2063 to lift people out of poverty.