As 2025 draws to a close, the global economic landscape is shifting in ways that would have seemed improbable a decade ago. At the center of this transformation stands BRICS+, a coalition of emerging economies that has rapidly expanded its membership and ambitions, challenging the dominance of traditional Western-led institutions. Kenya, among others, is actively exploring how deeper collaboration with BRICS+ could support its own development and economic goals, underlining the bloc’s growing pull.
BRICS was originally founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. But in a remarkable show of momentum, the group has recently welcomed new full members: Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia, the latter joining in 2025. The expansion has been swift and strategic, with nearly 20 other countries now participating as partners, including Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan, according to MENAFN and other sources.
“BRICS itself is a very important bloc in the world order today and it’s a bloc that everyone seems to be watching,” said a Kenyan ambassador, as quoted by MENAFN. Kenya’s interest is far from theoretical; the country is actively examining how collaboration with BRICS could support its national development and economic goals. Kenya’s leaders have made it clear that their approach is about forging a future based on independence and transformation, not on colonial frameworks. “Instead of thinking colonial, we think of independence… of how we can transform the lives of our people,” the ambassador emphasized.
One area where this collaboration is already bearing fruit is food security. Russia supplied over 500,000 tons of wheat to Kenya between January and October 2025, a lifeline for a country where food security is a “key pillar and priority” for addressing broader social and economic challenges. The partnership extends beyond wheat, encompassing fertilizers, food products, machinery, and other agricultural sectors, according to MENAFN. This relationship is emblematic of a broader trend: BRICS+ countries are leveraging their collective resources to support each other’s development in ways that bypass traditional Western aid models.
The growing influence of BRICS+ is not just about trade or development aid. At a major summit in Russia in 2024, the bloc unveiled a symbolic banknote called the R5, representing the ruble, real, rupee, renminbi, and rand—the core currencies of its founding members. This was more than a photo opportunity. Behind the symbolism lay a deeper ambition: to create alternatives to the existing global financial system, which has long been dominated by the US dollar, euro, and yen.
In December 2025, speculation intensified around the creation of a new BRICS+ currency and payment system known as the UNIT. Designed by the International Reserve and Investment Asset System, the UNIT would be backed by a fixed reserve basket—40% gold (by weight) and 60% in BRICS+ currencies—and delivered via a digital platform using blockchain technology. According to a report cited by The Conversation, this structure is intended to combine the stability of gold with the diversity of member currencies, reducing exposure to financial volatility and the risk of targeted attacks on any single currency.
Economist Vince Lanci described the UNIT as “a basket-backed, collateral-anchored settlement instrument intended specifically for wholesale, cross-border trade in a multipolar financial world.” The strategic logic is clear: by reducing the need for member states to convert local currencies into dollars, euros, or yen for international trade, the UNIT could lower exchange costs and increase economic and financial interdependence among BRICS+ members. If successful, it might even dampen economic shockwaves from the West, such as those that could follow a recession or a sudden drop in the US dollar’s value.
And the numbers are nothing to sneeze at. BRICS+ countries now account for about 36% of the world’s territory and 48.5% of its population. Their collective wealth is formidable, pooling 39% of global GDP (measured by purchasing power parity), 78.2% of global coal production, 36% of natural gas production, and a staggering 72% of rare earth mineral reserves. In 2024, BRICS+ countries held around 6,143 tonnes of gold, compared to the United States’ 8,134 tonnes, and China and India together accumulated an additional 572.5 tonnes between 2019 and 2024, according to The Conversation.
These developments have not gone unnoticed in the West. The US Dollar Index, which measures the dollar’s performance against a basket of other currencies, fell by about 8% in 2025. If the UNIT were to become an established trade currency, it could challenge the dollar’s role as the world’s dominant reserve currency. As one former White House economist put it, “It’d be like a new union of up-and-coming discontents who, on the scale of GDP, now collectively outweigh not only the reigning hegemon, the United States, but the entire G7 weight class put together.”
Still, there are hurdles ahead. The success of the UNIT will depend on BRICS+ establishing a credible governance framework, with clear rules and practices. Some progress has been made: work is underway on a common payments system known as BRICS Pay, and the BRICS+ New Development Bank could potentially issue UNITs. But building market confidence will require strong and sustained backing from all member states. There’s also the risk that the US could retaliate with higher trade tariffs on UNIT users, seeking to defend the dollar’s dominance.
The diplomatic side of BRICS+ is also evolving. At the 17th BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in July 2025, hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, leaders from all 11 member countries convened—though not all in person. Indonesia, having joined in January 2025, attended its first summit. Notably, Chinese President Xi Jinping missed the meeting for the first time since 2012, sending Premier Li Qiang in his place, while Russian President Vladimir Putin attended virtually due to an International Criminal Court warrant that would have compelled his arrest in Brazil, a signatory to the ICC, as reported by Utkarsh Classes.
The summit’s theme, “Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance,” underscored the bloc’s ambition to reshape global power dynamics. The summit declaration condemned the Phalagam terror incident in Kashmir on April 22, 2025, where 26 tourists were killed, calling for zero tolerance for terrorism and rejecting double standards in counterterrorism. The statement also condemned unilateral sanctions, a veiled reference to US policy.
BRICS+ is still a work in progress. The group has no permanent secretariat or headquarters, and its governance remains a patchwork of summits, declarations, and working groups. But the momentum is undeniable. For countries like Kenya, the bloc’s growing economic and political influence offers new avenues for development and a chance to help shape a multipolar world order—one that, for better or worse, is no longer centered solely on Washington, Brussels, or Tokyo.
As the world watches, the coming years will reveal whether BRICS+ and its ambitious projects, like the UNIT, can deliver on their promise of a more balanced and inclusive global system—or whether the old order will prove more resilient than expected.
