Africa: Russia and some African countries are moving towards the use of national currencies for the settlement of their trade exchanges

Russia and African countries are moving towards the use of national currencies for the settlement of their trade exchanges, announced the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov.

“As you know, we are planning a second Russia-Africa summit this year […] and we are preparing a series of events for this occasion. Documents are being drafted to reconfigure interaction mechanisms in the face of sanctions, and we will create new tools for cooperation in trade, investment, supply chains and payments,” he said. – he declared at a press conference on the results of the activities of Russian diplomacy in 2022. And to add: “There is a transition to settlements in national currencies. This process is not fast, but it is ongoing and gaining momentum”.

At the forefront of the movement to challenge the global hegemony of the greenback for several years, Moscow has accelerated the dedollarization of foreign trade since the start of the war in Ukraine. It has already convinced some of its major trading partners, including India and China, to step up the use of national currencies in mutual settlements.

As part of the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries, the main Russian banks have been deprived of access to Swift, a secure messaging platform allowing crucial operations such as funds transfer orders between banks.

In June 2022, Russian Trade Minister Denis Manturov and his Egyptian counterpart, Nevin Gamea, announced their intention to use their national currencies for the settlement of their bilateral trade.

Besides Egypt, Russia’s main trading partners on the African continent are South Africa, Algeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and Nigeria.