Algeria was formally admitted as a member of the New Development Bank (NDB) on Thursday, marking a big expansion of the BRICS-funded bank.
Algeria’s inclusion makes it now the 10th member of the NDB, a multilateral lending institution, and the 5th member to join outside of the BRICS founders (Russia, China, Brazil, India and South Africa).
Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay are also members of the NDB.
NDB President Dilma Rousseff hailed the ascension, stating that "Algeria plays an important role not only in the economy of Northern Africa, but also at a global scale, and will definitely contribute to enhancing NDB’s position in the global financial arena."
Algeria has long been thought to join BRICS once it became known that the bloc was planning on expanding due to its geography and historically close ties to Russia. In November of 2022, Algeria would formally submit an application to join the group.
Ahead of the 2023 BRICS summit where the bloc was planning their first expansion, however, India blocked Algeria’s inclusion into the group after reportedly being contacted by French officials who convinced India to veto the inclusion of Algeria.
The move by France was reportedly due to Algeria’s influence in the Sahel region, where France has lost considerable influence in the last few years, and who Paris partially blames, alongside Russia, for the loss of French influence.
In February of last year, Algeria announced that it would no longer seek to join the group. However, Thursday’s expansion into the BRICS bank indicates Algeria still plans on strengthening its relationship with BRICS, including with China, with whom Algiers entered into a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” in 2014, which has since been expanded.
In 2023, Algeria and Beijing agreed to cooperate in defense, security, and economic-related issues.
China has also agreed to build over 6,000 km of rail lines in Algeria.