"Having Russia and Africa work out the actual settlements in yuan is going to make trade sanctions-proof," Ovigwe Eguegu says, noting that thanks to such a policy, African nations' relationship with Russia "will not be subject to U.S. influence to the extent it currently is.
"That move would be beneficial for countries that are currently under sanctions like Zimbabwe or countries that are trying to make their economies more sanction-proof, particularly for certain commodities that they get from Russia, which is [...] key for their national security and development", he notes.
"For instance, a Nigerian importer would have to first convert his naira to US dollars and then convert the dollars to renminbi [yuan]", the policy adviser states. "Those transaction fees are needless if they are trading in yuan. Similarly, a Nigerian importer that may want to import wheat, for instance, from Russia, would do the same thing. He would convert to dollars and from dollars to rubles, and the rubles back to dollars back and forth. And those transaction fees would also be avoided," he explained.
"The shared interests in multipolarity is only going to be reinforced by Russia and Africa trading in yuan because when we talk of multipolarity, it has to be substantiated," Eguegu states. "One of the ways to substantiate that is to actually have independent centers for trade or trade dynamics that doesn't really require approval or clearance using SWIFT or Western mechanisms," he said.
"So with Russia, China and Africa as a whole coming together to try to build an alternative trade settlement system that would actually allow Russia-Africa trade to grow irrespective of the measures taken by the West to isolate Russia", expert concludes.