Algeria has been approved for membership in the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), the country’s finance ministry has announced.

The decision was taken on Saturday and announced by NDB chief Dilma Rousseff at a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.

By joining "this important development institution, the financial arm of the BRICS group, Algeria is taking a major step in its process of integration into the global financial system," the Algerian finance ministry said in a statement.

The bank of the BRICS group of nations –– whose name derives from the initials of founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa –– is aimed at offering an alternative to international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF.

Africa's leading exporter of natural gas

Algeria's membership was secured thanks to "the strength of the country's macroeconomic indicators" which have recorded "remarkable performances in recent years" and allowed the North African country to be classified as an "upper-tier emerging economy", the finance ministry said.

Membership in the BRICS bank will offer Algeria -- Africa's leading exporter of natural gas -- "new prospects to support and strengthen its economic growth in the medium and long term", it added.

Created in 2015, the NDB’s main mission is to mobilise resources for projects in emerging markets and developing countries.

It has welcomed several country as new members, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Saudi Arabia.