BRICS’ role growing globally – Kenyan ambassador
BRICS has emerged as one of the most important economic blocs in the world, Kenyan Ambassador to Russia Peter Mutuku Mathuki has said.
Speaking to RT, he emphasized that the group’s growing economic weight and the increasing number of African countries joining BRICS make it a strategic partner worth engaging with.
Mathuki noted that Kenya is closely studying how BRICS cooperation might help advance national development and economic priorities.
“BRICS itself is a very important bloc in the world order today and it’s a bloc that everyone seems to be watching,” Mathuki stated, adding that Kenya “could work closely with BRICS.”
BRICS was established in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. Over the past year, the group has extended full membership to Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia. The bloc’s partner countries include Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan.
The ambassador also highlighted Russia’s role in supporting Kenya’s food security efforts, especially through wheat exports. From January to October 2025, Russia delivered over 500,000 tons of wheat to the African nation.
“Cooperation between Russia and Kenya is very important,” he said, noting collaboration in fertilizer, foodstuffs, machinery, and other agricultural sectors. Mathuki called food security one of “key pillars and priorities,” stressing that once this is achieved, other social and economic issues can be addressed more effectively.
Asked about neocolonialism and its modern manifestations, the ambassador said Kenya continues to define its identity and future direction based on independence and transformation, not colonial models.
“Instead of thinking colonial, we think of independence… of how we can transform the lives of our people,” he said.
