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Seoul - South Africa has "applied" to join the four-member Bric grouping of fast-growing emerging markets, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at the Group of 20 meeting on Friday.
South Africa is the world's 31st-largest economy, according to World Bank data for 2009. It is less than a quarter the size of the smallest Bric economy, Russia, in the informal grouping that also numbers Brazil, India and China.
"There are a number of requests to join Bric, in particular an application by the South African Republic," Medvedev told a news conference, saying other members agreed.
Some economists have already dubbed fast-growing Indonesia the next Bric, a term invented in 2001 by Goldman Sachs Asset Management chairperson Jim O'Neill.
When contacted by Reuters for his view on whether South Africa should be included, O'Neill issued a terse reply: "No."
South Africa's economy is projected to grow just 2.3% this year, hardly the blistering pace seen in other Bric countries.
The four countries have sought greater clout for their grouping, holding a summit in Russia in 2009.
Some investors make asset allocations based on the Bric classification, and all countries that currently make up the grouping have seen their global financial influence increase substantially in recent years.
