China-based Brics bank set for lead role in hunger alliance this year, Brazil says

The New Development Bank, established by China and other South American nations, may launch a fund in the coming year to provide affordable loans to impoverished families in Africa and Latin America, Brazil's Social Development Minister, Wellington Dias, has announced. This would be the bank’s maiden financial commitment to Brazil's Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, a program that was removed from the G20 agenda following the United States assuming the G20 presidency last year.

Dias, who co-chairs the alliance, told the South China Morning Post that the chances of a pilot program worth around US$200 million being launched by December were "very big." The bank is currently working on the scheme with four other development lenders, each of whom needs to complete their compliance checks. The money would be directed towards Brazil's Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, which was launched at the G20 summit Brazil hosted in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024, but was dropped from the G20 agenda after the US took over the rotating presidency in December of the previous year.

The US administration, which boycotted last year's summit in Johannesburg, has focused the G20's agenda on deregulation, energy, technology and trade, leaving out issues like inequality and hunger. This has left the alliance somewhat isolated, but Dias acknowledged that Washington's reduction in aid presents a significant challenge for the group's objective, as the alliance relies on member contributions to fund the programs it promotes.