NEW DELHI -UNS : Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi used the BRICS summit in New Delhi to call for a stronger focus on practical economic cooperation, urging member states to translate the grouping’s growing collective weight into concrete projects, investment mechanisms and development partnerships.
Speaking at the summit, Sisi placed particular emphasis on food security, energy, development finance, technology, trade and the resilience of global supply chains — issues Cairo regards as increasingly interconnected with national and regional security.
Egypt, which became a full BRICS member in 2024, is seeking to use its position inside the expanded grouping to strengthen economic partnerships and increase its role in shaping the bloc’s future priorities.
The 18th BRICS Summit, being held in New Delhi under India’s 2026 chairship, brings together the grouping’s 11 full members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
Together, the expanded BRICS membership represents a substantial share of the world’s population and global economic output, giving the grouping growing influence across the Global South.
From Political Platform to Practical Cooperation
A central theme of Egypt’s approach is that BRICS should move beyond political declarations and focus increasingly on projects capable of producing measurable economic results.
Cairo has advocated stronger cooperation in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, technology, trade and investment, while supporting mechanisms that can turn collective BRICS initiatives into operational projects.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had previously highlighted this approach at the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, calling for deeper economic cooperation, greater use of the New Development Bank and practical initiatives in strategic sectors.
The emphasis comes as BRICS undergoes one of the most significant transformations in its history.
The bloc’s expansion has increased its economic and geopolitical reach, but it has also brought together countries with widely differing economic structures, foreign-policy priorities and strategic interests.
The challenge, therefore, is no longer simply expansion.
It is whether the enlarged grouping can develop effective institutions, financing mechanisms and economic projects capable of delivering results across its diverse membership.
Food Security at the Centre of Egypt’s Strategy
For Egypt, food security represents one of the clearest areas in which BRICS cooperation could translate into direct national benefits.
Cairo has proposed establishing a grain logistics hub in East Port Said, taking advantage of Egypt’s location alongside the Suez Canal and its position as a major gateway between Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
The initiative is designed to strengthen food-security arrangements while supporting trade, investment, industrial cooperation and logistics among BRICS countries.
The proposal also fits into Egypt’s broader effort to develop the Suez Canal Economic Zone as a regional centre for manufacturing, storage, logistics and international trade.
Its strategic importance therefore extends beyond grain.
A successful logistics hub could strengthen Egypt’s position within emerging BRICS supply chains and enhance its role as a commercial bridge connecting major markets across three continents.
Development Finance and the New Financial Architecture
Another major component of Cairo’s BRICS strategy is development finance.
Sisi has stressed the need to reform the international financial architecture and expand access to affordable and innovative financing for developing and emerging economies.
At the centre of this approach is the New Development Bank, the multilateral financial institution established by BRICS to finance infrastructure and sustainable-development projects.
Egypt supports strengthening the bank’s role and expanding financing instruments that can help developing countries address infrastructure, energy, climate and development needs.
The broader objective is to provide emerging economies with additional sources of capital while increasing their influence over the institutions that shape global economic governance.
BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors have likewise pushed for greater reform of international development-finance institutions and stronger representation for emerging and developing economies.
For Cairo, the issue is therefore not simply access to money.
It is also about reshaping the mechanisms through which global development is financed.
Food, Water and Energy Security
Egypt’s BRICS policy is closely linked to its domestic strategic priorities.
Food security, water security and energy security are among the country’s most sensitive long-term challenges.
Disruptions to international commodity markets, elevated energy costs, geopolitical tensions and vulnerabilities in global supply chains have reinforced the need for diversified sources of trade, investment and financing.
Egypt consequently views BRICS as a platform through which it can broaden economic partnerships and attract investment into sectors directly connected to national resilience.
The underlying strategic calculation is that economic resilience has increasingly become inseparable from national security.
Climate Finance and the Global South
Climate finance is another area where Egypt has sought a stronger voice for developing countries.
Cairo has called for greater access to climate financing and for a fair and realistic transition towards lower-emission economies that takes into account differences in economic capacity, development needs and national circumstances.
Egypt’s position reflects its broader effort to represent the interests of developing economies in debates over climate change, development financing and international economic governance.
For Cairo, the central question is not whether the global economy should move towards cleaner energy.
It is how that transition will be financed and how its economic burden will be distributed between developed and developing countries.
Egypt’s Geopolitical Advantage
Egypt’s significance within BRICS extends beyond its economic potential.
Its geography gives it a strategic advantage that few other members can replicate.
The country connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and sits at the crossroads of Africa, the Arab world, Asia and Europe.
The Suez Canal remains one of the world’s most important maritime trade corridors, while the Suez Canal Economic Zone provides an additional platform for manufacturing, logistics and investment.
As geopolitical tensions continue to disrupt traditional trade routes and encourage businesses to seek more resilient supply chains, Egypt’s geographical position becomes increasingly valuable.
For BRICS, Cairo can therefore offer more than access to a large market.
It offers strategic connectivity.
The Leadership Question
Egypt’s growing engagement with BRICS inevitably raises the question of whether Cairo ultimately seeks a larger leadership role within the grouping.
The BRICS chairmanship rotates among member states, meaning that leadership is institutional rather than permanent.
India holds the chair in 2026, while future leadership will depend on the established rotation and consensus among members.
Any Egyptian ambition for a future chairmanship or stronger institutional role would consequently require sustained diplomatic coordination and support from other BRICS members.
That process could prove challenging.
The expanded BRICS includes major powers with competing strategic interests, different economic priorities and divergent relationships with the United States and Europe.
The grouping is therefore unlikely to evolve into a fully unified political or economic bloc.
Its influence will depend largely on whether its members can identify areas of common interest where cooperation produces tangible benefits.
Why Egypt Matters to BRICS
Egypt brings several strategic assets to the expanded grouping:
– The Suez Canal and its importance to global maritime trade
– A strategic location linking Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East
– A large domestic consumer and industrial market
– Access to Arab and African markets
– Major grain-import and food-logistics requirements
– The Suez Canal Economic Zone
– Growing economic ties with China, India, Russia and other BRICS members
– Diplomatic influence across Arab and African institutions
These factors allow Cairo to position itself not merely as another BRICS member, but as a potential logistical, commercial and diplomatic bridge between different regions of the Global South.
Strategic Assessment
Egypt’s BRICS policy reflects a broader transformation in Cairo’s international economic strategy.
The objective is to diversify external partnerships, secure additional investment and financing, strengthen supply-chain resilience and increase Egypt’s role in discussions over the future of global economic governance.
For Sisi, BRICS offers at least three strategic opportunities.
First, it can help Egypt diversify its economic and investment relationships.
Second, it can create additional channels for infrastructure, technology and development financing.
Third, it can reinforce Egypt’s position as a bridge connecting the Arab world, Africa, Asia and Europe.
There are, however, significant constraints.
BRICS is not a military alliance and does not operate as a unified geopolitical bloc. Its members have different strategic priorities and varying relationships with Western institutions and markets.
The larger the grouping becomes, the more difficult consensus-building is likely to become.
For Egypt, the decisive test will therefore be whether its proposals can move beyond diplomatic statements and become projects that other BRICS members are prepared to finance, develop and utilise.
From Participation to Influence
The New Delhi summit represents an important stage in Egypt’s effort to consolidate its role within the expanded BRICS framework.
Sisi’s message can be broadly understood as a call to move from participation to influence — and from declarations to implementation.
Food-security projects, logistics infrastructure, development finance, technology cooperation and climate financing are emerging as important components of Cairo’s BRICS agenda.
The proposed grain logistics hub at East Port Said illustrates how Egypt seeks to connect its national economic priorities with the wider objectives of the grouping.
The larger strategic calculation is equally clear.
Cairo increasingly views BRICS not simply as a forum to attend, but as a platform through which Egypt can expand its economic influence, reinforce its strategic relevance and secure a stronger voice in the evolving Global South order.
The question now is whether that ambition can be converted into institutional influence, major investment projects and, ultimately, a larger leadership role within BRICS.
