Leaders of BRICS countries met in New Delhi, India, from 12 to 13 September 2026 for the 18th BRICS Summit held under the theme: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

Discussions at the business forum centered on strengthening economic cooperation and developing practical partnerships among BRICS economies, with a focus on trade, investment, supply chains, digital transformation, and value-chain integration. These discussions culminated in the New Delhi Declaration, calling for greater cooperation on trade, finance, technology, food security, energy, development and global governance.

A key highlight of the Declaration was the recognition of the valuable contribution of Partner countries to BRICS cooperation, underscoring the leaders’ strong belief that advancing the BRICS partnership with Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) will further contribute to strengthening the spirit of solidarity and international cooperation for the benefit of all. BRICS currently comprises 11 members: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the UAE. Together, they account for about 49.5 percent of the world’s population, 40 percent of global GDP, and 26 percent of global trade.

Why it Matters for Kenya

But for Kenya and the wider African continent, the real story isn’t the summit’s size. It’s the UAE’s emerging role as a bridge — and what that bridge could carry. The UAE formally joined BRICS in January 2024 and has increasingly used the grouping as a platform to expand economic partnerships with emerging markets. Its participation at the summit reflects its focus on strengthening links with BRICS economies and its role as a trade, investment, and logistics hub connecting markets across the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and beyond.

Instructively, the Dubai Chambers chairman Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori led the UAE delegation to the BRICS Business Forum, where discussions centred on eliminating trade barriers, strengthening supply chains, and deepening digital cooperation. The delegation comprised government officials, business leaders, representatives of financial institutions and startups from BRICS member and partner countries. His presence also underlines why the UAE’s role in BRICS matters beyond the summit itself.

For Kenya, a country seeking to widen its trade and investment partnerships, the UAE’s growing engagement with the wider Global South can open additional channels for business, capital and market access. That broader relationship is already taking shape on the ground. In July, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce established the Kenyan Business Council to strengthen economic cooperation and build more enduring partnerships between the two business communities.

This also came hot on the heels of the UAE-Kenya Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed last year, the first such deal the UAE concluded with a mainland African country.

African BRICS members also have the opportunity to grow their footprint. Ethiopia’s participation in BRICS gives it a platform to court investment beyond traditional Western channels, while Egypt has used the summit to push for energy investments.

The UAE’s Bridge Role

What makes the UAE’s position unique is not its membership card but its geography — and its business model.

The Emirates already functions as the logistics, financial, and aviation hub connecting East Africa, the Gulf, and Asian supply chains. When the Red Sea disruptions in April threatened Sh164.6 billion in Kenyan exports to the Middle East, the UAE leadership publicly reassured Nairobi that trade links remained intact.

Notably, the UAE’s BRICS role gives Kenya indirect access to a network of emerging markets. Emirati logistics firms operating in Mombasa and Nairobi are not just serving UAE-Kenya trade. They are positioning themselves as conduits into Indian, Chinese, and Southeast Asian markets. That should matter to Kenyan exporters looking beyond traditional Western buyers.

Additionally, the financial architecture being discussed within BRICS — local currency settlements, payment connectivity, the New Development Bank — could eventually reduce Kenya’s dependence on dollar-denominated trade and expensive Western credit. The UAE’s active participation in these discussions signals that Gulf capital is aligning with a multipolar financial system.

For Kenya, the opportunity lies in recognising that a small Gulf state with global logistics networks and deep capital reserves is now sitting at a table where the rules of the emerging economic order are being written. Nairobi should be paying close attention — and positioning its own exporters, innovators, and infrastructure priorities to ride the currents that the UAE is helping to shape.

The bridge is being built. The question is whether Kenya will walk across it.

The author is a Global Communications Strategist and former Business and Technology Editor