Ethiopia has made an official application to join the Brics bloc of emerging economies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
According to the foreign ministry's spokesperson Meles Alem, quoted in The East African, the country has applied for membership and expects a positive response.
Brics is a five-member bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
"As a country that has been a founding member of global institutions like the AU and the UN, and as we seek to guarantee our national interests, it is important to join blocs like Brics," he said.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ethiopia, with the second-highest population in Africa, is one of the continent's fastest-growing economies.
