Russia wants to trade with African countries in local currencies – Lavrov

Russia and African nations are moving towards settlements in national currencies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed on Wednesday, adding that the parties are preparing documents on rearranging the mechanism of cooperation under Western sanctions.

Lavrov’s announcement was made during a press conference on the results of the activities of Russian diplomacy in 2022. The official earlier stated that Russian and African partners are working on reducing, though gradually, trade in the US dollar and the euro in mutual trade payments.

“As you know, we are planning a second summit with Africa this year, at the end of July in St. Petersburg, and we are preparing a whole series of events for it, documents are being prepared to reconfigure the mechanisms of interaction in the face of sanctions and threats, … new tools for trade and investment cooperation, supply chain systems, payments,” the Russian FM explained, adding “There is a transition to settlements in national currencies, this process is not fast, but it is underway and is gaining momentum.”

Moscow has been steadily pursuing a policy of de-dollarization in foreign trade. In recent years, Russia and some of its trade partners, including India and China, have been ramping up the use of domestic currencies in mutual settlements in an effort to move away from the US dollar and euro.

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