BRICS vs. The West: Is the Global Power Map Being Redrawn?
Why Gen Z Entrepreneurs Need to Understand This Global Power Shift Before Launching Their Next Big Idea
Picture this: You are building your dream business: A beauty brand, a financial education app, a sustainable fashion line. You have nailed every detail of the branding; your pitch deck is so strong it literally screams a billion-dollar deal; your mobile app is ready for global expansion.
But what if the global market you are about to enter is no longer dominated by the West?
Welcome to BRICS: an association of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) now expanded with countries like Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. Masterfully and without much fanfare, these countries are reshaping the world that we live in today. If you want to be anything more than a local girl with big dreams, you must understand the shift happening in the global landscape.
This is not politics. This is power. This is currency, trade, influence, and the future of business.
What Is BRICS — and Why Does It Matter?
BRICS was initially a set of developing economies outside the Western world. However, they are now shaping up to be a genuinely global bloc, increasing their significance and challenging the institutions that the West has held for decades.
They are establishing their own bank (the New Development Bank), trading with each other in local currencies rather than US Dollars, and pushing for a new world order that puts their development and voices into consideration.
Why Gen Z should care:
This is not theory; this is reality. If you're building, branding, or banking your future, you should be looking East and South, not just West.
What This Means for Business
1. The Dollar is Not Guaranteed
If BRICS successfully creates an alternative to dollar dominance, it will upend international pricing, payment processing, and startup capital.
You may need to think in rupees, yuan, or real if you buy or sell from businesses around the world.
If you're a freelancer, product-based founder, or e-commerce queen, international payments could get really messy really fast if you are not ahead.
2. Your Audience May Not be Who You Think
By 2030, BRICS countries are expected to account for over half of the world's population and a significant portion of global consumer growth.
Brands focused on Gen Z, in particular, should be designed for non-Western consumers from day one.
What works in LA may flop in Lagos. What sells in New York may not be in demand in New Delhi.
3. Supply Chains are Changing
Innovative businesses will follow the money and the materials, and they are both shifting into BRICS countries.
India is poised to become the next giant in tech and manufacturing.
Brazil is the future of agriculture and sustainability.
China remains the world's factory and consumer superpower.
If your brand is unaware, you may be building on sand.
4. Investing and Innovation Are Going Global
New tech hubs, stock exchanges, and unicorns are popping up all over the world, not just in Silicon Valley.
Consider fintech in Africa, AI in China, SaaS in India, and climate startups in Latin America.
The savviest Gen Z founders will be the ones who invest in or partner with these rising ecosystems before the rest of the world wakes up to them.
This isn't only about politics or power blocs. It's about who gets to define the future of business -- who gets to set the prices, write the trade rules, and decide what innovation looks like.
BRICS has boldly stepped to stake a claim to that space.
Are you prepared to build in their world - or are you still designing for a world that is disappearing?
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