Welcome back to Diplomatic Brief, a series featuring conversations with foreign diplomats about the forces that bind — and at times divide — their countries and Brazil.
Our guest is Andrew Karanja, the ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to Brazil. An agricultural economist by training, he spent much of his career in research and development — at Kenya's Coffee Research Foundation, at Egerton University's Tegemeo Institute, and at the World Bank, where he led rural development programs across Kenya and East Africa. Before his posting to Brasília, he served as Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development. He holds a doctorate in development economics from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What are the three top issues on the agenda between Brazil and Kenya right now?
There are three priority areas driving our bilateral agenda at the moment. The first is agricultural cooperation and food security. We are advancing a memorandum of understanding between our two governments centered on technology transfer, particularly in livestock.
The second is investment facilitation and trade. Our trade promotion agencies — ApexBrasil and its Kenyan counterpart, KEPROBA — have signed a memorandum of understanding, and ApexBrasil led a mission to Kenya in February with some 60 companies. We are working to attract Brazilian investment across agribusiness, mining, energy, health and logistics.
The third is Kenya's membership in the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which Brazil launched during its G20 presidency. It remains an important multilateral platform for coordinated action on hunger, poverty and climate change under South-South cooperation.
What other exchange opportunities do you believe Brazil and Kenya could leverage — in trade, politics, culture, agriculture?
The opportunities are substantial across all three dimensions. In trade, we are building agricultural partnerships around technology transfer and equipment financing, deepening cooperation in mining and logistics, and working to increase the presence of Kenyan exports — tea, coffee, indigenous nuts and handicrafts — including through trade fairs in Brazil. The memorandum with ApexBrasil has created an important institutional channel to drive this forward.
In politics, we are strengthening parliamentary diplomacy and city partnerships — twinning Nairobi with São Paulo and Mombasa with Rio de Janeiro — and advancing Global South cooperation through the G20, the United Nations, and the climate conferences.
In culture, we recently signed a memorandum that opens the door to sustainable tourism and people-to-people ties. We want to promote cultural festivals, celebrate our shared heritage, including the deep Afro-Brazilian connection to Kenya, and pursue sports diplomacy. Kenya is a sporting nation and so is Brazil — Brazil in football, Kenya in athletics. One recent example is the marathon in Rio de Janeiro on May 17, which was won by Kenyans.
What are the main strengths and gaps you see in Brazil's diplomatic relationship with Kenya, and with African countries more broadly?
Let me begin with the strengths. Brazil has deep historical and cultural ties through a shared African heritage, recognized expertise in agriculture and food security, a genuine emphasis on South-South cooperation and active engagement in multilateral forums like the G20. Crucially, Brazil tends to act as a partner rather than a donor, which is highly valued across African nations, including Kenya.
As for the gaps, trade volumes remain below their potential. There are institutional and capacity constraints and uneven implementation of agreements. Historically, Brazil's engagement with Africa has been concentrated in the Lusophone countries, and the partnership has at times been seen as yielding uneven benefits. There is significant room to move beyond those limits, and Kenya is a genuine partner for Brazil to deepen its engagement with non-Lusophone Africa.
The language barrier has been one obstacle, but we are gradually overcoming it, and the trade relationship is improving.
What is the biggest misconception Brazilians have about your country that you would like to clarify?
Many Brazilians, understandably, see Kenya primarily as a destination for wildlife safaris and nature-based tourism. That is a wonderful part of our country, but it is only one facet. Kenya is also a dynamic, innovative hub — we are home to the "Silicon Savannah." We pioneered mobile financial services through M-Pesa, which transformed financial inclusion not only in Kenya but across Africa.
We are a continental leader in renewable energy, fintech and youth entrepreneurship; our economy is expanding rapidly, and we play an influential role in global diplomacy, from UN peacemaking to climate advocacy. Kenya is not only a safari destination; it is a strategic business and investment destination and a gateway to the African continent. As the host of the United Nations Environment Program, Kenya is also a natural leader in the field of the environment and cooperates closely with Brazil in that area.
You mentioned fintech and digital payments, a sector Brazil has developed rapidly. Do you see room for cooperation there?
Yes, there is a great deal of cooperation between Kenya and Brazil in fintech. Kenyans are very interested in the instant-payment system used here in Brazil [Pix], which lets anyone move money through the banking system, and they see clear potential to pair it with what M-Pesa has built. Just last week — or the week before — we hosted about 100 Kenyans working in the pension sector who came to study Brazil's model, because there are good things happening in Brazilian pensions. Brazil is pioneering a product that channels pension-fund resources into financing agriculture, and Kenyans want to learn from it.
What surprised you the most about Brazil when you first arrived?
What struck me was the extraordinary richness of Brazilian society — the remarkable blend of African, indigenous, European and Asian influences, woven into the music, the food and the fabric of daily life, along with the warmth of the people. Kenya has its own diversity — we have 42 communities and cultures — so it is a spirit I recognized immediately. The urban energy of Brasília, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo is also striking. You arrive in these cities and feel how vibrant they are, and some, like São Paulo, are enormous.
What would you miss the most about Brazil after you leave?
Without question, the warmth and hospitality of the Brazilian people — the joy, the joyful spirit of the carnivals, the love of football and the passion for samba. Brazil's diversity is remarkable, from the South all the way up to the Amazon and its rainforests. And then there is the cuisine, the fresh tropical fruits, the texture of everyday life. That is what I will remember and miss most.
