CBDC Development in the Countries that Joined BRICS in 2024. Part 2

The world is currently witnessing the emergence of a new multipolar global order, where a significant role is played by the group of major developing nations within the expanded BRICS. 

Since 2024, BRICS comprises ten member countries: Russia, Brazil, India, China, South Africa, the UAE, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Indonesia. Additionally, there are ten BRICS partner states: Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Nigeria, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Bolivia.

The swift evolution of partnerships within BRICS signifies an objective trend towards establishing a multipolar system of international relations. This shift aims to enhance economic interdependence and foster a vibrant platform for effective dialogue and collaboration among leading nations. The economies of the BRICS countries exhibit stability and are poised to exert considerable influence over a significant portion of the global economy in the years to come. By the end of 2024, the combined share of BRICS countries—including partner nations—in the global GPD (purchasing power parity) reached an unprecedented 41%, surpassing the share of G7 that stood at 30%.

The rapid expansion of the cryptocurrency market and advancements in financial technology have catalysed the digitalisation of monetary systems within BRICS through the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

Currently, 143 countries worldwide are engaged in CBDC development projects, representing 98% of the global economy. By mid-2025, BRICS nations—specifically China, Brazil, India, and Russia—had emerged as leaders in integrating digital currency practices into their legal frameworks, achieving significant milestones in CBDC development. Given these dynamics, a promising avenue lies in advancing national CBDCs not only in the founding members of BRICS but also among the new participants and partners who joined the group in 2024. Research on CBDCs is actively underway in nearly all these nations (details are provided in Table 1).

Nigeria was among the first countries to officially unveil a digital currency, the eNaira, in 2021. The initiative was primarily driven by the challenges associated with paper money circulation, particularly for the roughly 40% of the population lacking bank accounts. The vision was for this digital currency to replace cash and become the nation’s primary medium of exchange. However, Nigeria faces significant hurdles for full implementation: a fragile technological infrastructure, inconsistent electricity supply, insufficient competencies of financial staff, and concerns about data privacy and financial crime. As a result, by 2024, the eNaira's share in total currency in circulation remained stagnant at a mere 0.37%.

In 2018, the Central Bank of Iran started exploring the concept of a digital currency, the Digital Iranian Rial, in response to the imposition of US sanctions. By 2024, they had launched a pilot programme for this digital currency in the Kish Island Free Trade Zone in the Persian Gulf, aiming to enhance tourism, banking, cultural services, and establish a hub for oil and oil products.

In 2024, the Central Bank of the UAE announced the successful piloting of retail and cross-border settlements using the Digital Dirham.

New entrants to BRICS, such as Thailand, the UAE, China, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Egypt, and Indonesia, are actively engaging in cross-border settlement projects involving CBDCs, notably through the mBridge project. By 2024, this initiative had advanced to a minimum viable product stage for cross-border transactions.

To investigate the potential for a unified digital currency and to test distributed ledger technologies, the Central Banks of the UAE and Saudi Arabia launched the Aber project in 2019. This initiative allows commercial banks in both countries to use a single currency as a unit of account, eliminating the need for foreign currency conversion and settlements. Funds can be transferred in real time without requiring a nostro account with a correspondent bank in each country.

In 2023, a trial of cross-border settlements using digital currencies took place between the Central Banks of the Republic of Belarus and Russia.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Malaysia joined the Dunbar project, which aims to create a prototype for a unified blockchain platform designed for cross-border payments utilising multiple CBDCs. This multicurrency platform will enable commercial banks to connect directly with one another, eliminating the need for intermediaries, streamlining transactions, and enhancing the speed, cost-effectiveness, and security of payments.

To sum up, research into CBDCs among the newly joined BRICS nations is advancing rapidly. The introduction of digital currencies holds the potential to significantly boost trade, foster investment and economic cooperation within the BRICS+ framework, establish an innovative infrastructure for the settlement and payment market, and lay the groundwork for a new system of international financial relations.

Co-author of the article: Anastasia Baboshkina A.A., PhD in Economics, postgraduate student at the Department of International Finance, MGIMO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia