# The expansion and acceleration of economic cooperation between Africa, Asia and South America  
The multilateral cooperation between African countries and Asian and South American partners is on the increase. Most Asian economic powerhouses, whether large, like China, India and Japan, or smaller, like South Korea, are launching cooperation programmes with African countries in a broad range of domains. A new cooperation alliance, BRIC - including Brazil, Russia, India and China - working for an alternative to the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization) was formed in 2009. South Africa joined the alliance later, which changed its acronym to BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS financial institutions are being created and they are expected to affect international cooperation and financial systems in the years to come. Despite its current political crisis, Brazil, with the largest Afrodescendent population out of Africa, is positioned to play an important role in the cooperation with African countries.