Keypoints:
- UAE strengthens its position as a BRICS trade bridge
- Kenya–UAE economic ties are expanding rapidly
- BRICS is reshaping emerging-market trade networks
LEADERS of BRICS countries met in New Delhi, India, from September 12 to 13, 2026, for the 18th BRICS Summit under the theme, ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’.
The meeting came a day after the BRICS Business Forum brought together government officials, investors, financial institutions, entrepreneurs and business leaders to discuss trade, investment, supply chains, food security, digital transformation and deeper economic integration.
The summit culminated in the New Delhi Declaration, which called for stronger cooperation across trade, finance, technology, global value chains, development and international governance.
One particularly significant element was the recognition of the contribution of BRICS partner countries and the grouping’s wider engagement with emerging markets and developing economies.
BRICS now comprises 11 members: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Together, they account for about 49.5 percent of the world’s population, 40 percent of global GDP and 26 percent of global trade.
For Africa, those numbers are important. But the more interesting question is how countries outside BRICS can position themselves to benefit from the economic networks developing around the bloc.
Why the UAE matters to Kenya
For Kenya, the real story is not simply the size of BRICS. It is the UAE’s emerging role as a bridge — and what that bridge could carry.
The UAE formally became a full BRICS member in January 2024 and has increasingly used its membership, alongside its wider trade strategy, to deepen economic relationships across Asia, Africa and other emerging markets.
Its position is unusual. The Emirates combines substantial investment capacity with globally connected ports, airlines, financial services and logistics networks linking the Gulf with Africa and Asia.
That is why the participation of Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, chairman of Dubai Chambers, at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi on September 11 was significant. Discussions focused on addressing logistical and regulatory barriers, strengthening supply chains and expanding digital economic cooperation.
For Kenya, which is seeking to diversify both export markets and sources of investment, that matters.
Trade ties already have substance
The Kenya–UAE relationship is no longer theoretical.
In January 2025, the two countries signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA. It was the first agreement of its kind concluded by the UAE with a mainland African country.
The agreement seeks to reduce trade barriers, simplify customs procedures and expand cooperation in services, digital trade, investment and industrial development.
The commercial relationship has continued to deepen.
In July 2026, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce established a Kenyan Business Council to strengthen links between Kenyan companies and Dubai’s private sector.
Non-oil trade between Dubai and Kenya reached AED13.6bn ($3.70bn) in 2025, while 587 Kenyan companies were registered as active members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce by the end of the year.
Those figures give the relationship considerably more substance than the diplomatic language that typically accompanies international summits.
The UAE is not merely discussing African trade. Its companies, investors and institutions are building economic links that could influence how goods and capital move between Africa, the Gulf and Asia.
A bridge into wider markets
This is where the BRICS connection becomes particularly interesting.
The UAE’s non-oil trade with BRICS economies exceeded $312bn in 2025, representing growth of 28.5 percent from the previous year.
For Kenyan businesses, the significance is not that UAE membership automatically grants Kenya access to BRICS markets. It does not.
Rather, the opportunity lies in using existing commercial relationships with the Emirates as part of a broader strategy for reaching markets in India, China and other fast-growing economies.
Recent developments in logistics underline that potential.
UAE-based DP World and Kenya’s GulfCap Africa have advanced plans for a 222-hectare Mombasa Industrial Park. The proposed special economic zone is designed to attract foreign direct investment, expand local manufacturing and strengthen links between Kenyan businesses and regional and international markets.
For exporters looking beyond traditional destinations, infrastructure of this kind could become increasingly important.
Disruption exposes the risks
The case for diversified trade routes became clearer during the Middle East crisis earlier this year.
In April, Kenya’s Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry warned that geopolitical disruption threatened about KSh164.6bn ($1.27bn) in annual exports to Middle Eastern markets.
Flowers, meat, dairy and other high-value and time-sensitive agricultural exports were among the products facing pressure from longer transit times, disrupted routes and rising freight costs.
The episode also illustrates the other side of Kenya’s growing economic relationship with the Gulf: greater opportunity can bring greater exposure to regional geopolitical shocks.
Diversification should therefore not amount to replacing dependence on one set of markets with dependence on another. The stronger proposition is to develop several routes into a wider range of markets.
Finance needs a dose of caution
BRICS is also exploring greater interoperability between payment systems and increased use of members’ local currencies in trade settlements and investment.
The New Delhi Declaration reaffirmed work on cross-border payment mechanisms and discussions around the use of BRICS currencies, while also calling for an expanded role for the New Development Bank in infrastructure and sustainable development.
Kenya should follow these developments closely, but expectations need to be realistic.
Kenya is not currently a shareholder in the New Development Bank. BRICS membership and NDB membership are also separate arrangements, meaning Nairobi should not assume automatic access to financing simply because of closer commercial relations with BRICS members.
Nevertheless, changes in how major emerging economies settle trade, finance infrastructure and connect their payment systems could gradually affect the wider commercial environment in which Kenyan businesses operate.
That makes these developments increasingly relevant for exporters, financial institutions and policymakers.
Kenya still has choices to make
The UAE’s importance to Kenya ultimately extends well beyond its BRICS membership.
What makes the Emirates strategically interesting is its combination of capital, logistics infrastructure, trade agreements and commercial relationships spanning Africa and Asia.
BRICS membership adds another layer to those connections.
For Kenya, the opportunity lies in determining how its exporters, manufacturers, technology companies and infrastructure developers can make practical use of trade corridors and investment relationships that are already taking shape.
BRICS itself will not transform Kenya’s economy. Nor will the UAE.
But relationships among emerging economic powers are changing, and those changes are creating additional routes for trade, capital and investment.
The bridge is being built.
The question is whether Kenya will be ready to cross it.
Zachary Ochieng is a global communications strategist and former business and technology editor
