Between fraying democracies, the growing inequality gap between rich and poor, geopolitical tensions and the growing list of events that point to climate catastrophe, it’s hard to feel optimistic about much.
When the first summit of the Brics bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) was held in Yekaterinburg in 2009, there was a collective current of optimism that a group of countries representing Global South interests could redefine how the global order is discussed and the direction it takes.
Safe to say that many of those who had hoped for a better world are now disenchanted, as Brics has become little more than a club of developing economy leaders meeting once a year at each other’s homes to talk shop.
The New Development Bank (NDB) is an impressive development finance institution with a noble mandate, but if the established sovereign credit rating agencies determine that the cost of debt for developing economies, especially in Africa, will remain high because they are deemed a “bad risk”, then we are essentially back to square one.
During the 2023 Brics Summit, there was strong speculation about the possibility of the bloc introducing a common “Brics currency”, which was shot down by the reality that, other than being regarded as “Global South nations”, the Brics nations really don’t have much of anything in common.
In the same way that Beats Electronics used ambush marketing by having the most famous celebs and athletes sport their sleek headphones in public, the power of an unusual but striking image, such as someone using a passport with a hot pink cover, could play a small role in changing nations.
There isn’t even a peace alliance under the Brics bloc. In light of all this, it seems the reforms billions of people in the Global South had hoped for are doomed to come in tiny increments: a power station here, a highway there and more development contingent on power imbalances.
But what if the key to the positive changes that we want to see in the world lie in something that few people regularly think about; something so small it can fit in the average pocket? What if Global South countries could leverage passport design to drive change?
In the same way that Beats Electronics used ambush marketing by having the most famous celebs and athletes sport their sleek headphones in public, the power of an unusual but striking image, such as someone using a passport with a hot pink cover, could play a small role in changing nations.
The immediate question is: aren’t there rules to what a passport can look like? Indeed there are. According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a country is entitled to produce its passport booklets in any colour that it would like, as long as the gold print is clearly legible against the colour of the booklet.
For years, TikTok influencers and the like have spouted all kinds of appealing tales claiming that the colours of passports represent a region, or a type of government or some multilateral alliance. But as it turns out, the colour of a passport booklet is picked purely off vibes.
We know this because the US had dark green passport books from 1941 to 1976, when the country opted to use blue covers on their ordinary passports, dark red or maroon for government officials and black for diplomats.
When the UK passport returned to the navy blue colour in 2020, the decision was purely symbolic and in acknowledgement of the nation’s decision to leave the European Union, whose passports sport burgundy. The UK held a referendum to leave the EU a decade back.
But what if the colour of a passport did symbolise something? What if a traveller from a Brics nation placed their passport at an immigration counter and every person around them could immediately tell not only their country of origin but what that country stood for?
This is where the proposal for a hot pink passport comes in. To be clear, hot pink is completely arbitrary. The colour is only used as an example because it is not often seen on passport covers and would be distinct among passports if it were chosen.
If Brics countries could agree to leverage the appetite of tourists, travellers, digital nomads and investors to have access to their countries, perhaps they could create a tourism, migration and investment framework that prioritises Brics countries and those like them, based on policies.
This can be done by all Brics countries agreeing to have common characteristics among their passports, which will signify a specific set of values that the Brics nations wish to advance in the global community.
Brics countries could agree to adopt the hot pink passport on the basis of specific policies, namely the preservation of ecosystems, pro-poor policy, sustainable and redistributive development, and taking a stand against countries and leaders that commit war crimes.
This is not to say Brics will shut out the rest of the world. But these countries, especially those whose conduct opposes these values, should be charged a premium to the hilt for tourism, migration and investment access.
This approach would segue well with South Africa’s recently launched Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) platform. The ETA is a digital-entry permit that seeks to modernise South Africa’s visa system and make travel in the country easier.
It allows travellers to apply online for biometric verification and authorisation to visit South Africa, thereby enhancing ease of travel for expats and those who operate in the C-suite.
If enough Global South nations take this position, investors, tourists and expats looking for access to their markets are likely to lobby their nations to adopt similar policies for easier access to these coveted markets.
This is a tourism market which was valued at $5.3-trillion in 2025 and could reach $8.3-trillion by 2036, according to Brics Grain and Future Market Insights. This is a bloc of countries that has access to $100bn in development capital, courtesy of the NDB.
A lot of the aforementioned proposals are indeed complicated by developments such as the ongoing political situation in Ukraine, the tensions in the South China Sea, and the devil in the detail of China’s “zero-tariff” regime for African nations, announced earlier this year.
That said, it is nice to imagine a world where when a South African travels to Brazil or India and puts their hot pink passport on a counter at the airport or immigration control, someone nearby smiles at the little booklet, knowing exactly what that traveller’s country stands for.
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