Kenyan President, William Ruto, reportedly made an appeal to China to support Kenya’s quest for membership in the BRICS group.
Mr Ruto who was unveiled as a major U.S ally in 2024 made public his country’s intention to join BRICS in November 2024 during a visit by Li Xi, the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the ruling Communist Party of China.
Diplomacy experts in Nairobi suggest that Kenya, like many other Global South countries, aims to align with BRICS to leverage an economic model tailored to the needs of developing nations.
John Mbiti, a researcher and policy analyst at the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), emphasizes that BRICS is a highly influential bloc both economically and geopolitically. He asserts that ‘Kenya has every right to align itself with such a group.‘
Mbiti argues that one of Kenya’s core motivations for joining BRICS is to break free from the control of the West.
“[The] majority of African states who are allies of the West have their economies under the mercy and control of western controlled financial institutions and many African nations want to break from such,” he said.
“As a member of the BRICS, Kenya will definitely have access to a broad economic network with trade arrangements that are less constrained by the traditional economic dominance of Western powers,” the expert said.
Mbiti observes that influential BRICS nations, such as Russia and China, are known for offering credit to developing countries on more favorable terms than traditional lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. To support this initiative, BRICS has founded the New Development Bank (NDB) to provide member countries with flexible and advantageous financing options.
BRICS | Zimbabwe Professor Argues for BRICS New Development Bank Over IMF Due to Its Flexibility and Supportive Terms
The BRICS bank provides loans based solely on economic need and repayment terms without linking them to other demandshttps://t.co/XD0naXxdp5 @BRICSinfo pic.twitter.com/aEJxzSsHLS
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) October 21, 2024
Should Kenya be successful in its quest, it would be joining regional neighbors like Ethiopia and Uganda which have recently joined the bloc.
BRICS | Uganda Becomes the First Country in East Africa to Join #BRICS
Combined, the nine BRICS members and the additional nine BRICS partners account for over 41% of the global GDP, measured in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).https://t.co/7DveNOD73i @BRICSinfo pic.twitter.com/up5vY1vsSR
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) January 6, 2025
BRICS officially received 9 new nations as partner states on January 1 2025 expanding its size to roughly half of the global population and more than 41% of world GDP (PPP).
Originally established in 2009 as BRIC – comprising Brazil, Russia, India, and China – the organization expanded in 2010 with the inclusion of South Africa, becoming BRICS.
During the 2023 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, the group announced another expansion, extending invitations to six additional nations:
- Argentina
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Iran
- Saudi Arabia, and
- The United Arab Emirates (UAE)
BRICS | Ethiopia
and Egypt
Among 6 New Nations Joining BRICS Starting January 2024
Broadening the scope of the coalition is a component of BRICS strategy to establish influence and restructure worldwide governance into a ‘multipolar’ global arrangement that prioritizes the… pic.twitter.com/JpDt44pJjt
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) August 25, 2023
By January 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE had accepted their invitations and officially joined BRICS.
Combined, the nine BRICS members and the additional nine BRICS partners account for over 41% of the global GDP, measured in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).
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