The BRICS nations are having their annual summit this week, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

BRICS is an acronym of the member nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The group formed in 2009 with all but South Africa, which joined the following year. The nominal purpose of the group is to foster economic cooperation. For nearly a decade now, BRICS has had its own financial institution, the New Development Bank.

Attending the summit will be many high-ranking officials from all five nations, including the heads of state: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping of China, and the host nation's President, Cyril Ramaphosa, Attending via video link will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an International Criminal Court warrant on war crimes in conjunction with his country's war with Ukraine. (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend in person.)

High-level discussions of that war are not intended to take place, particularly since the other four members have differing stances on its prosecution: China and South Africa have historically had close to Russia, and Brazil and India have largely stayed out of the international debate on the war.

Chief among the topics that will be discussed is further expansion of the group. More than three dozens countries have either formally applied or expressed interest in joining. Already, Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay are members of the New Development Bank; the first three of those have made formal applications for admittance, and Uruguay has signaled intense interest in doing the same.

Another topic for discussion is expected to be exploring alternatives to the dominance in global currency markets of the American Dollar. One impetus for the group's economic cooperation has been a viable alternative to the U.S.-dominated G-7.

The group has a chairmanship, which rotates among the member nations. South Africa holds that role in 2023.