NewsRescue
Morocco’s bid to join BRICS is motivated by a desire to defend its economy in the face of Western powers’ neglect of numerous third-world countries, particularly the United States, according to economic and policy specialist Amine Ayoub.
Ayoub highlighted to RT on Thursday that Rabat is aggressively seeking new partners as a result of shifts in priorities by its erstwhile Western economic allies, who withdrawn investments in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Morocco is the most recent country to formally ask to join the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador-at-large to BRICS and Asia, previously estimated that more than 40 countries were interested in joining the organization. The group is now accepting official applications from 23 non-Western countries, including Egypt, Bangladesh, and Iran.
Moroccan policy analyst Ayoub told RT that these countries are turning to BRICS for economic reasons as well as because the “Western world, especially the US, is not giving voice to many of these third-world countries.”
He claims that Rabat is “open to using other currencies” and that joining BRICS will benefit its future.
The bloc has proposed a unified currency for intra-member commerce, which will be debated at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on August 22-24.
Meanwhile, Ghali Zbeir, president of the Saharawi Oil and Mineral Authority, told RT that Morocco’s “sudden bid to join BRICS appears strange,” given its status as a US, France, and Israel friend.
“A new world order is being shaped before our very eyes,” Zbeir said. He went on to say that “the old world order, which followed the interests of Western countries, is no longer valid,” and that BRICS offers “the hope for the creation of a new world order.”
In reference to the territorial issue between Morocco and Western Sahara, Zbeir stated that Rabat’s entry to the BRICS group must not jeopardize Laayoune’s right to self-determination.
“The issue with Western Sahara is one of decolonization,” he explained.
Western Sahara was the last African colony to gain independence, with Morocco considering it an integral part of its territory.