In mid-May 2023 South Africa hosted the BRICS Academic Forum in Cape Town, where discussions focused on the most pressing issues on the BRICS agenda such as the modalities of BRICS-Africa cooperation, including through the advancement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Perhaps the key message that came from the Forum was the call for collective action and cooperation not only among the BRICS economies but also with the wider BRICS+ space of the Global South. In particular, regarding the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), commitment to multilateralism was termed as being crucial, with South African representatives calling for building a “developmental trajectory with a human face” in which “no small country is left behind.”