Uganda is set to officially join the BRICS partnership on January 1, as announced by Yury Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a press briefing on Monday. He noted that Uganda is among nine nations that have expressed their willingness to attain this status.

In November of the previous year, US President Joe Biden removed Uganda, along with the Central African Republic, Gabon, and Niger, from the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade program, citing significant violations of the program’s requirements.

For many years, Uganda had been exporting products such as coffee and textiles to the United States under this initiative, which has been in effect since 2000 and allows eligible sub-Saharan African countries to access the US market duty-free.

The category of ‘BRICS partner country’ was introduced during the group’s summit in Kazan, Russia, in October, as a response to the interest of over 30 countries seeking membership. This status allows countries to participate in special sessions of BRICS summits, ministerial meetings, and other significant events, as well as contribute to the group’s official documents.

Ushakov highlighted that one of the key outcomes of the Kazan summit was the creation of the BRICS partner country category and the agreement on a list of 13 nations. Invitations have been extended to these countries.

He confirmed that readiness to become a BRICS partner state has been received from Belarus, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan, with expectations of confirmation from four additional countries soon.

BRICS originally included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and was expanded earlier this year to incorporate Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.

In recent years, numerous African nations have shown interest in joining the alliance, aiming to establish partnerships beyond their conventional Western allies to broaden their trade and economic relationships. Earlier this month, Nigeria requested support from South Africa for its application to join the BRICS coalition of leading and emerging economies. Additionally, Zimbabwe and Algeria are pursuing membership.

Patricia Kishemeire, the ambassador of the International Municipal Cooperation Forum of BRICS in Uganda, noted in an analysis article published in October that the alliance offers new financial options, including the New Development Bank, which facilitates public projects through “equitable lending and participation.”

She emphasized that Uganda’s involvement with BRICS would help diversify the country’s export opportunities, which currently depend heavily on agricultural products like coffee and tea.

“Engaging in trade with BRICS could enable African nations to decrease their reliance on the US dollar and alleviate the burdens of debt and sanctions,” the ambassador remarked.