South Sudan’s Kiir in South Africa to attend BRICS summit

August 22, 2023 (JOHANNESBURG) – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir in South Africa to attend the BRICS summit of world leaders, his office said.

Speaking to reporters in Juba on Tuesday, Presidential Affairs minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the summit will focus on consolidating political and economic influence in developing nations, marking a crucial moment in international diplomacy.

“President Kiir has been officially invited to participate in the meeting, which discusses crucial economic matters in the global south”, he explained.

BRICS is a grouping of the world economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa formed by the 2010 addition of South Africa to the predecessor BRIC.

World leaders at this year’s summit will discuss the proposed expansion of the bloc.

President Kiir, according to Marial, will join world leaders at the BRICS summit, including the Chinese President Xi Jinping, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, among the other heads of states.

He further said the South Sudanese leader would use this summit as an opportunity to update world leaders on his country’s effort to resolve the conflict in Sudan.

“This is a unique opportunity in the sense that the issue of Sudan can always find a space in the briefing notes and talking points of His Excellency president Salva Kiir when meeting and updating his colleagues either during regional, continental, or global forums because of the significant role Sudan plays in regional, continental and global peace and security,” stressed Marial.

South Sudan is a member of the quartet comprising Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia.

(ST)