Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 that Russia and African countries are moving towards using national currencies to regulate their trade.

Moscow has already convinced some of its major trading partners like India and China to intensify the use of national currencies in mutual settlements in response to Western sanctions. Indeed, during a press conference on the review of Russian diplomacy activities in 2022, Sergei Lavrov said that they are planning “a second Russia-Africa summit this year [...]”. “We are preparing a series of events for this occasion. Documents are being prepared to reconfigure mechanisms for interaction with sanctions, and we will create new tools for cooperation in trade, investment, supply chains and payments,” he suggests.

For him, “there is a transition to settlements in national currencies. This process is not quick, but it is ongoing and it is gaining momentum.”