De-dollarization is good for Africa – BRICS Business Council head

US economic policy has prompted many African nations to seek alternatives to the dollar, the chairperson of the BRICS Business Council, Busi Mabuza, told RT on Wednesday. She added that Africa as a whole would benefit from more trade in national currencies.    

“People are seeing the flip side [of sanctions], which is what impact it would have on [using] the dollar. Our nations already have started, especially the big economies, [to trade] in our own currencies. This is an important example for us as the African continent, because we have as many currencies as we have countries,” the economist stated on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.     

According to Mabuza, Africa will benefit from shifting away from the dollar towards alternative payment mechanisms in mutual trade.      

“It would allow us to move away from the cost of trading in [other] currencies. At the moment we trade in currencies in order to trade in products. I would love to see us just trade in products and settle [with] each other,” she explained.     

Mabuza also highlighted the role of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), in particular in funding infrastructure projects in Africa. The continent needs railroads, power stations, and other facilities in order to develop the African Continental Free Trade Area. The role of the NDB in these projects will be “critical,” she concluded.

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