BRICS Summit Endorses Ethiopia’s WTO Bid

Addis Ababa, September 12, 2026 (ENA) —The 18th BRICS Summit has strongly supported Ethiopia’s bid for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The endorsement came in the New Delhi Declaration adopted at the summit, underscoring Ethiopia’s growing engagement in multilateral economic and global governance affairs.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and a high-level Ethiopian delegation participated in the summit, held under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”

In its declaration, BRICS leaders reaffirmed their commitment to an open, transparent, fair and rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core.

“Echoing the aspirations of the Global South to fully integrate into the multilateral trading system, we strongly support Ethiopia and Iran’s bid for accession to the WTO,” the declaration stated.

The endorsement comes as Ethiopia advances its WTO accession process and strengthens economic ties with major emerging markets. 

In May 2026, Ethiopia and India signed a bilateral accession protocol in Geneva as part of Ethiopia’s WTO membership process.

Addressing the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called for stronger cooperation among member states and deeper engagement with Africa, emphasizing the importance of leveraging BRICS capital, technology and markets to create greater value from the resources and opportunities available across member countries.

Beyond trade, the New Delhi Declaration also recognized Ethiopia’s growing role in international institutions.

BRICS leaders welcomed Ethiopia’s candidacy for one of the newly expanded seats on the ICAO Council, noting that Ethiopia has been endorsed by the African Union as the continent’s sole candidate for the upcoming election.

The twin endorsements on trade and global aviation governance reinforce Ethiopia’s push for a stronger voice in multilateral institutions and highlight the country’s expanding role within the Global South, it was indicated.

Moreover, for Addis Ababa, the BRICS backing represents both diplomatic recognition and strategic momentum as Ethiopia seeks deeper integration into the global trading system and greater representation in international decision-making bodies.