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The BRICS forum brings together a group of very different countries that share the common aim of attaining increased clout in the international arena. This paper describes the progress made at the fifth BRICS Summit in March 2013 in Durban, where the group consolidated its position as a source of influence on world events and set up cooperative bodies, including the BRICS Business Council. The authors focus on the launch of a new BRICS bank and on the difficulties involved in setting concrete initiatives in motion. They also examine the BRICS forum’s relations with Africa and the impact these relations have on the continent.