In three months, representatives and leaders of four out of the five-BRICS member states have visited Kigali and met with President Paul Kagame; first was South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa in March, followed by Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov in June before China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi in July. The BRICS member states include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, an alliance of emerging economies whose objective is to facilitate cooperation among its patrons, for development through provision of financial assistance and support in various projects especially in infrastructure. At a time when the global leadership status-quo is being rattled by President Donald Trump’s avant-garde politics in Washington, coupled with domestic strife in Britain, Germany and France hitherto, world’s traditional global centres of power, it is safe to see BRICS alliance as a candidate to fill this emerging void. The old guard in the post-World War Two alliance is crumbling, as USA, the center that held it all together appears disinterested in playing ‘big brother.’ With Britain divorcing from Europe, the allies are leaderless. President Trump’s version of an alliance is of friends with benefits in terms of trade and security spending. He wants NATO member states to increase their security budgets and stop relying on Washington’s wallet-power. He also wants to close the trade deficit with Europe, which he says is hurting USA’s fiscal health. It is against this global context that the BRICS member states just held their 2018 summit in South Africa, which was also attended, among others, by President Paul Kagame. But President Xi and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Kigali, shortly before the summit, to meet and discuss with the current AU chairman is something that should be examined in a global framework. The BRICS are an emerging global alliance and they see Africa as an important brick to strengthen the group. Every war produces new generals. The ongoing global restructuring of power will ultimately groom a new world alliance with a new leader. From the Greeks to the Romans, to the British and now Americans, who will be next? China under Xi would be an able leader. Also, I think China has been an emerging power for so long, it is high time it got promoted to take on more responsibilities of global leadership with the help of its allies, after all, the rules of inheritance of global power appear to have changed. We shall not need a military World War Three to oust USA. But a global trade war might have been kick-started in Washington and the fight is on. Trump’s USA is currently picking a fight with almost everyone, lamenting about unfair trade relations.China has suffered these attacks, so is Europe. President Trump’s policies are disrupting world trade order which is based on agreements that took decades to negotiate and ratify; it is a major test for the World Trade Organization and the likes of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development whose relevance and authority are at stake. Depending on how they manage to resolve the ongoing trade spats between the dominant players in international trade, new rules of trade maybe in the offing especially considering that Britain is on its way out of Europe and President Trump is likely to win a second term in office, meaning more disruptions! This means, it is time for the world’s hitherto emerging economies to take centre-stage of world affairs. Beyond South Africa, the BRICS need Africa as a unit to build a solid alliance with the capacity to shape a new global discourse where Africa is not just a recipient of handouts but an almost equal player. This calls for an opportunity alert in Africa with a leadership wearing global lenses able to see and pursue this bigger picture and take advantage of the current turbulence to negotiate itself a new role in the emerging global status-quo. In Kagame, one can be assured that Africa’s interests safe. It can therefore be said that as President Kagame met BRICS leaders, he was juggling the interests of Rwanda and Africa at large. Kagame is on record saying that Africa should take advantage of the ongoing changes in global status-quo by defining what role the continent wants to play. As AU Chairperson, Kagame sees integration as a step towards positioning Africa as a single unit to pursue African interests with harmony, on a global stage. This means addressing issues blocking Intra-Africa trade such as Visa restrictions, building cross-border roads to connect countries and ease movement. But with a fixed term of just one year, the President, can only leave behind a solid foundation on which his successors can continue to pursue the dream of a fully integrated Africa. These regular high-profile meetings in Kigali indicate the President is working overtime, as he supervises work on that foundation. Examination of the bilateral agreements signed between Rwanda and China, India and Russia show that Kagame is not accepting fish from these bigger economies, but he wants them his people to learn how to catch their own fish. It is the same philosophy he is pursuing for Africa. Kagame is right because to enjoy the company of fishermen, Africa must know how to cast its own net and to swim to safety when the tempest rattles the ocean’s calmness. kenagutamba@gmail.com The views expressed in this article are of the author.
