The Africa National Congress (ANC), South Africa's ruling party, on Monday said the 5th BRICS summit is critical in "redefining" the future of the developing nations and establishing world economies.

Held under the theme: "BRICS and Africa Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation," the summit will hosted by South Africa in Durban starting from Tuesday.

"The ANC believes that this gatherings is critical in redefining the collective future of the developing nations at a time when the world is constantly threatened by a possible collapse of established economies," said the national spokesperson of the party Jackson Mthembu in Johannesburg.

BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The group will host its fifth summit on March 26-27 in South Africa.

During the summit, heads of states President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, President Vladimir Putin of Russian, President Xi Jinping of China, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of of India will meet 15 African heads of states invited by Zuma to attend the summit.

The ANC said the meeting of Africa and BRICS leaders is crucial on developing BRICS-Africa trade cooperation.

"We believe that the outcomes of the summit and the meeting of the 15 African Heads of State will be instructive on the consolidation of trade within BRICS and within the African Union and as well as consolidation of cooperation in the area of investment between these countries," Mthembu said.

The summit is critically important to South Africa and its aspirations for Africa growth and economic development. It concludes the group's first five-year cycle. South Africa will chair the group for 12 months after the Durban summit, and then hand over to Brazil.

"As the Chair of the BRICS group for the next twelve months, we believe that South Africa will be able to make its contribution in further defining the agenda and objectives of BRICS," Mthembu said.

Experts say BRICS represents an unprecedented opportunity for its members and countries on the African continent to access new and developing markets, encouraging commercial, political and cultural cooperation for the benefit of the African economy as a whole as well as the individual BRICS member countries. Endi

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