developing economies, within the framework of new south – south co - operation. secondly, the financing is largely devoted to meeting the needs of developing countries for infrastructure development. this is different because mdbs are largely devoted to reducing global and regional poverty along with many other priorities, which limits the finance available for infrastructure development. thirdly, it has new financing mechanisms which focuses on a more equal and balanced development partnership in the relations between major developing countries and with their smaller developing counterparts. the ndb plans to use market - oriented operations to reduce loan costs and provide innovative loan facilities so that developing countries will have a more robust, flexible and customer - oriented development finance service. 9 the cra treaty of the brics countries was signed in july 2014 and came into effect a year later with the finalisation of all the operational requirements pertaining to the treaty. the cra is basically a self - managed contingent reserve arrangement to forestall short - term balance of payments pressures, provide mutual support and further strengthen financial stability. once again, as with the establishment of the ndb, the cra is not meant to replace any financing arrangements under the imf, but is rather a complement to existing international monetary and financial arrangements and in the main helps to strengthen the global financial safety net. the arrangement is important because it provides the possibility to quickly obtain additional liquidity in the event of a crisis. as yet, none of the brics countries have had a need to call upon the cra. there are a number of new initiatives being discussed under the brics agenda, with a view to furthering the work already undertaken and cementing the progress that has been made to date. allow me now to briefly touch on recent economic developments in south africa, before i conclude my address today. recent economic developments in south africa the south african economy has slowed in recent years, from growing by almost 6 per cent prior to the global financial crisis, to a mere 1, 3 per cent in 2015. in the first quarter of 2016, growth contracted by 1, 2 per cent. south africa has been buffeted by a number of negative developments, namely, the slowdown in china and reduction in commodity prices ; weak demand in advanced and emerging market economies, as well the deterioration in growth prospects for the sub - saharan africa region ; policy uncertainty ; and suffering one of the worst droughts on record during 2015 / 2016. according to the sarb ’ s most recent forecast the economy will only grow by a meagre 0

towards technological advancement in south africa. but let me turn to the topic of the speech. i will discuss brics in the south african and global context, more recent developments in terms of the slowdown in brics economic growth and focus on the successes of the brics countries. i will conclude with a brief update on economic developments in south africa, which could be of interest to some of you. www. southafrica. diplo. de. bis central bankers ’ speeches 2. brics and south africa the bric countries, as the grouping was initially known, admitted south africa as a member to the club in december 2010. there were many criticisms levelled towards the inclusion of south africa in this grouping, with the perception that south africa ’ s economic size was just too small for it to have any benefits for the bric. however, if one considers the country ’ s large mineral resources ; very well developed, deep and sophisticated financial markets ; strong institutions and robust and expanding infrastructure programme, then surely south africa ’ s presence in this grouping is not misplaced. in addition to south africa being the only african member of the g20, its inclusion into the bric group provides it with a more representative structure and further emphasises the bric countries commitment to strengthening their presence and engagement in africa. 2 indeed, within the sub - saharan africa ( ssa ) region, south africa is the second largest economy, accounting for 21 per cent of ssa gdp. ssa is an important export market, and there are significant financial linkages in terms of foreign direct investment and a strong presence of south african firms in the south african development community 3. south africa ’ s trade with bric countries has expanded in recent years, as exports to bric countries grew from r20 billion in 2005 ( eur1 billion ), to r154 billion ( eur9 billion ) in 2013 ( although this has since slowed to r147 billion ( eur8. 5 billion ) in 2015 ). imports have similarly increased from r48 billion ( eur2. 8 billion ) in 2005 to r277 billion ( eur16 billion ) in 2015. 4 much of the exports are destined for china, which accounts for 64 per cent of south africa ’ s exports to bric, followed by india accounting for close to 30 per cent. the bulk of exports to bric countries consist of mineral products, although the percentage of mineral products in total exports in china, for example