On October 6, Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced that the Cabinet had approved a formal application to join BRICS as a partner country. This decision was made during a visit by India's External Affairs Minister, Dr. Jaishankar, who pledged India's support for Ghana's application. However, Dr. Jaishankar noted that the wider BRICS grouping must consider the application.
The debate that followed quickly became partisan and ideological, with some framing it as a choice between East and West, Beijing and Moscow versus Washington and Brussels. However, this framing misses the point, according to Nana Attobrah Quaicoe, who argues that Ghana has belonged to numerous "clubs" for nearly seventy years, including the UN, the AU, ECOWAS, the IMF, and the World Bank.
BRICS offers several levels of association, including full membership and partner country status. Full members, currently eleven in number, take decisions by consensus, while partner countries attend summits and some meetings but do not shape decisions. Ghana, if successful, will join the partner tier. The New Development Bank is legally separate and open to non-members.
It is essential to understand what BRICS is not – it has no founding treaty, no permanent secretariat, no free-trade area, and no automatic funding window. BRICS members are vast economies, but the bloc has no common tariff or trade rules; trade with its members still happens bilaterally. Partner status is a seat in the room, not access to a market or a fund.
Ghana's record shows a wide gap between belonging and benefiting from international memberships. Despite hosting the African Continental Free Trade Area secretariat in Accra, Ghanaian firms' use of the agreement remains modest. Similarly, Ghana has been a member of the IMF since 1957 but has repeatedly borrowed from it, using it as a lender of last resort rather than a ladder to transformation.
The decision to join BRICS has genuine merit and deserves a fair hearing. Partner status is a low-cost hedge in a fragmenting world, diversification is prudence, not defiance. The signal may improve Ghana's leverage, and relationships with BRICS members are already deepening, with trade with India growing from around $3 billion in 2024 to about $7 billion.
However, there are risks associated with joining BRICS, including sanctions exposure, retaliation, unequal partners, and internal divisions. To mitigate these risks, Ghana must join with eyes open and a plan to manage each risk. The early evidence from Africa is instructive, with Egypt and Ethiopia becoming full members in 2024, but decisive help coming through traditional institutions and direct bargaining.
Key points
- Ghana applies for BRICS partnership to diversify its international relationships and improve its leverage.
- The decision to join BRICS has genuine merit, but it also comes with risks that must be managed.
- Ghana's experience with international memberships shows a wide gap between belonging and benefiting.
