Within the BRICS, a new financing alternative has emerged to target to
development projects. The BRICS New Development Bank‘s (NDB) mandate
requires the bank to identify development priorities and direct funds to projects
that could target such priorities. The Post 2015 development agenda will be
spearheaded by the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
which each member of the BRICS supports. Given the development agenda of
the bank and the new SDGs, the question remains whether the NDB can be used
as a mechanism to meet these goals. This brief paper recommends the
introduction of a targeted financing model informed by a socio-economic
disparity index that could be adopted by the NDB. Such a financing model
could enable the bank to support the funding gaps present in South Africa and
across the BRICS nations.
The paper furthermore reviews progress the BRICS have made in reaching the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), discusses how a composite disparity 2
index could be produced and thereafter delves deeper into how a possible
Infrastructure Financing Model could be structured.