Set up in 20l5 as an alternative to the World Bank, the Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB) is seen as the first major BRICS achievement after the group came together in 2009 to press for a bigger say in the post-World War II financial order created by Western powers.

The bank aims to address a massive infrastructure funding gap in the member countries, which account for almost half the world’s population and about a fifth of global economic output.