Ethiopian analyst says BRICS development bank should be strengthened amid IMF and World Bank concerns
Ethiopian lecturer Mulualem Hailemariam says the BRICS New Development Bank needs to be reinforced as emerging economies challenge their limited voting power in the IMF and World Bank. His comments reflect wider unease over how global financial institutions represent the interests of developing countries.
A debate over who sets the rules of global finance is intensifying, and an Ethiopian scholar argues that the BRICS New Development Bank should play a bigger role.
Mulualem Hailemariam, a lecturer in international relations and diplomacy, told Sputnik Africa that representation in global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank was a serious concern raised at a summit in New Delhi. He said voting power was one of the key issues discussed.
According to his account, major developing economies feel that their economic weight isn’t matched by influence in the existing institutions, where long-standing shareholders still dominate key decisions. That frustration feeds interest in the BRICS New Development Bank, which was set up by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as a development lender.
The Ethiopian expert’s call to strengthen that bank speaks to hopes in parts of the Global South for financing that they see as more responsive to their needs. For countries like Ethiopia, access to infrastructure and development funding is central to building roads, power systems, and other basic assets, and the terms attached to that funding can shape domestic policy for years.
By arguing for a stronger BRICS bank, Hailemariam is effectively saying that emerging economies want more leverage and more choice in how they fund development, rather than relying primarily on the IMF and World Bank.
Signals to watch now include whether BRICS members move to expand the role and resources of their development bank, and whether the IMF and World Bank adjust voting shares or other governance features. Any high-profile shift by large emerging economies toward alternative lenders for major projects would show that this contest over financial influence is entering a more concrete phase.
Sources
- OSINT