Uganda’s BRICS partnership: A role in reshaping global order

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OPINION

By Shemei Ndawula

The BRICS summit in Rio was the death knell to the old-world order. In a seismic shift of global power diplomacy, 11 countries, with Uganda being the sole representative from East Africa, were formally admitted into the alliance. This bold move is an undeniable vote of confidence in the promise of the alliance to scale inclusive growth and sustainable governance.

The parallel remarks by US President Trump labeling BRICS-aligned nations as “enemies” and threatening 10% tariffs on their exports underscore the urgency of the BRICS vision of a multipolar world of open markets and mutual prosperity.

President Trump's remarks ought to call for a diplomatic response, not retreat. Uganda has the enviable opportunity to leverage its BRICS role as a spur for economic resilience and regional leadership, ensuring Africa’s voice plays a role in shaping the global agenda within the BRICS framework.

The BRICS alliance was formed on the premise of a single question: why? Why should a single nation’s currency (not backed by anything) be the reserve currency of the entire world? Why must the global power structure be perpetually tilted to favour a select few world powers who lord systems of governance and economic monopolies around the globe?

Why must we maintain a global world order that cripples our economies, inflates our trade deficits, and keeps us in a perpetual cycle of non-developmental administrative restructures blind to our cultural diversity? Why must our survival be financed by non-performative debts to maintain extractive economies?

BRICS offers a numerical answer of 4.5 billion people. Our partnership with the BRICS offers the Ugandan farmer (seven in 10 Ugandans are engaged in agriculture) an expanded market of 4.5 billion people to sell our coffee and to as well as a myriad of other farm products, the Ugandan entrepreneur joins an expanded economy of 27.35 trillion dollars to explore and for the government a New Development Bank that will finance not a hamster wheel of neo-colonial extraction but real infrastructural development.

Trading in local currencies like the Chinese yuan and South African rand can stabilise incomes for Ugandan investors, freeing them from the evident volatility of dollar dependence.

President Trump’s tariff threats, aimed at BRICS members and partners, challenge our economic ties with the US, including vital health programs still reeling from the impact of the early aid cuts by the current administration. This is precisely why Uganda’s BRICS partnership matters both nationally and regionally.

It offers a pathway to diversify our alliances, reducing reliance on any single global power and in the growing multipolar world. As a nationalist with an unwavering “America First” principle, President Trump ought to be the strongest proponent of BRICS, which is hinged on cultivating independent yet inclusive frameworks for transnational cooperation with core principles of mutual respect, understanding, sovereign equality, solidarity, democracy, inclusiveness, collaboration and consensus.

To fully embrace this moment, Uganda must act with strategic foresight. A dedicated BRICS envoy would ensure our priorities—trade equity, climate finance, and global governance reform—are central in the partnership’s high-level discussions. As East Africa’s sole BRICS partner, Uganda is uniquely suited to re-echo the voices of Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda and the broader African Union, advocating for a permanent African UN Security Council seat and funding for sustainable energy and knowledge transfer.

A national BRICS strategy, shaped by academics, businesses, and communities, would unify our efforts, positioning Uganda as a regional leader. Our history of peacekeeping in Somalia and South Sudan shapes us as continental leaders who can lead on the global stage, bridging divides with diplomacy.

What BRICS brings to the table is a partnership based on mutual respect, and the high level discussion in Brazil was a stark contrast to the Whitehouse Luncheon organised for African heads of states that coincided with the Summit, where President Trump is quoted telling the African presidents to “go a bit quicker than this because we have a whole schedule. If I could just have your name and country, that would be great. ”

BRICS is not a rejection of the West but a complement to it, offering Uganda flexibility to engage multiple partners on diversified fronts. The African Continental Free Trade Area, set to transform regional trade, can work alongside BRICS to strengthen our markets as well as other BRICS member-implemented projects like the Belt and Road Initiative by China, which has already spurred significant progress in Africa.

As a BRICS partner, Uganda must speak with clarity, advocating for a world order where power is shared, not hoarded. Our BRICS partnership is a call to lead, ensuring East Africa’s aspirations resonate globally.

The writer is a senior research Fellow at the Development Watch Center