Kenya’s position on BRICS as its economic rivals in the region joins the alliance
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BRICS admits six members into the alliance including Kenya's rivals in the African region; Ethiopia and Egypt
BRICS admits six members into the alliance including Kenya’s rivals in the African region; Ethiopia and Egypt.
On Thursday, the BRICS nations welcomed six new members, among them Kenya’s economic competitors Egypt and Ethiopia, who are close neighbors.
BRICS is a group of five emerging nations including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa challenging what they call the dollar dominance and G7 group of developed countries.
The five BRICS members announced Ethiopia and Egypt’s entry into the coalition at a joint news conference in South Africa
“BRICS is a diverse group of nations. It is an equal partnership of countries that have differing views but a shared vision for a better world,” the joint statement read in part.
“As the five BRICS members, we have reached an agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures of the BRICS expansion process.”
BRICS Alliance announced that after reaching a consensus on the first phase of the expansion, they were inviting Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to become full members of BRICS.
The nations after being ratified will officially join the alliance on January 1, 2024.
Ethiopia which had a close relationship with BRICS member states applied to join the bloc of emerging markets in June this year.
“We expect BRICS will give us a positive response to the request we have made,” the foreign ministry stated then.
Kenya’s position on BRICS
President William Ruto is reputed to have maintained a minimal engagement with the BRICS while working closely with the US and Europe.
Ruto was noticeably absent last month when Russian President Vladimir Putin called African Heads of State to a summit on the economy instead of sending delegates.
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Ruto also missed the BRICS Summit being held in South Africa.
Instead, the Head of State is being represented by Foreign Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua.
“Kenya has become a major player in the international stage due to our Pan African spirit, democracy and push for a fair international financial system that supports the development of people and frees nations from the yoke of debt-driven bondage,” Mutua stated while meeting African Heads of State attending the summit.
In a speech delivered by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua on Thursday at the event held in Johannesburg, Kenya pushed to have African debt renegotiated or suspended.
He explained that the global financial system was imbalanced even as many countries in Africa struggle to repay their debts owing to the current state of the global economy which has been hampered with the effects of the global pandemic.
“A proposal is for the debt repayments to be renegotiated and suspended for a period of time, say 10, 15 or even 20 years, so the monies that are available are used for development.
Meanwhile, Kenya is yet to make a formal application to join the BRICS economic bloc.
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