South Africa is hosting the BRICS Summit whose theme is "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution."
BRICS leaders and business delegates, including members of the BRICS Business Council, are present at the opening session of the summit, which is expected to rally behind concerted efforts to revitalize Africa's industrialization agenda.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed the role of technologies in the industrialization during the opening session, saying that the technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution provided developing and emerging economies with the opportunity to leapfrog the technologies of the preceding revolutions.
The rapid adoption of mobile telecommunications in Africa and other parts of the developing world, for example, demonstrated how innovation can ignite sudden bursts of development, he said.
He said, properly harnessed, new technologies can ensure more efficient processes and more reliable systems of service delivery and expand economic participation by ensuring that knowledge and information is more broadly disseminated across the population, urging the BRICS countries to equip people with the necessary skills to thrive in such a society and in such an economy.
South Africa is hosting the BRICS summit for the second time and is expected to leverage on that privilege to push for increased trade, investments and skills transfer between emerging markets and Africa states to advance shared prosperity.
The hosting of a BRICS Summit in the African soil comes in the wake of rapid diversification of the continent's economies through manufacturing and value addition.
African countries are keen to tap into capital, technology and expertise from BRICS countries to promote advanced manufacturing that lies at the heart of economic transformation in the continent.
The 10th BRICS Summit, which is scheduled to end on July 27, feature high-level discussions among leaders, policymakers and industry executives around the theme of enhanced partnerships to realize inclusive growth and the next phase of industrial revolution.
A briefing released by the South African government ahead of the BRICS summit said it will seek to promote Africa's priorities in diverse areas like manufacturing, agro-processing, energy, infrastructure development and connectivity.
Observers believe a renewal of partnership between the BRICS countries in other continents and African countries that is expected at the Johannesburg summit will inject fresh vitality into the continent's quest to expand its industrial base and share of export of high value goods.
