New Development Bank’s headquarters in Shanghai (Reuters)

The Central African Republic (CAR) Trade and Industry minister, Lea Mboua, said, as quoted by Sputnik, that the establishment of a branch of the BRICS' New Development Bank in the country will be a "logical step" following the planned opening of the institution's regional representative office in the capital city of Bangui.

"We have earlier agreed to establish the BRICS' regional representative office in Bangui, and it will be logical if we open the branch of the BRICS bank as well," Mboua said.

The Minister also expressed optimism that these plans would come to fruition soon and emphasized the need to expedite this work, as well as maintain the current pace of progress following the visit of the BRICS delegation to the nation.

Mboua added that the execution of seven projects, including those in the energy sector, had been tackled during the delegation's visit, as the development of the CAR's industry was "impossible" in separation from this sector.

This comes shortly after Brazil and China discussed BRICS expansion during Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to China from April 11 to 14.

At the time, a statement on the Brazilian Foreign Ministry website said, "They [Brazil and China] supported the promotion of active discussions amongst BRICS members on the BRICS expansion process and stressed the need to clarify the guiding principles, norms, criteria, and procedures for this expansion process based on broad consultation and consensus."

BRICS members account for 30% of the global gross output and 40% of the global population. The bloc includes the world's major developing countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It was also announced, recently, that a handful of medium-sized economies intend to join the bloc: Argentina, Algeria Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

They recently agreed to create their own currency. However, details have not been disclosed yet as members are expected to participate and share their ideas on the matter in a forthcoming session of the BRICS summit in August 2017.