Several African countries reject Russia's demand to use ruble in commercial transactions

African countries have sharply reduced the use of rubles for payments for goods from Russia. The statistics of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation testify to the currency structure of payments for exports and imports, the Russian news outlet RBC reports.

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According to the Russian Central Bank, in July the share of the ruble in payments between Russia and Africa fell to 12.7%. In June, it was 48.3%, in May – 35.2%, in April – 44.9%, in March – 61.3%, and in February it reached 82.4%. A sharp decrease in the share took place against the background of the collapse of the ruble, the exchange rate of which rose above 90 rubles to the dollar in July.

At the same time, the share of currencies of countries that Russia itself calls "friendly", including the Chinese yuan, in calculations for exports to Africa reached 78.8% in July. This is a record since January 2021.

In turn, the share of the dollar and euro decreased to 8.5%. In June, it was 12.6%, in May – 58.9%. Back in January 2021, the share of dollars and euros in settlements reached 98.2%.

Such jumps may be influenced by the relatively small volume of Russia's trade with Africa – according to the assessment of the Russian customs in July 2023, the share of this continent was 3.7% of the total turnover of Russia. In 2022, it was even smaller – 2.3%.

The main currency that African countries can use is the Chinese yuan and, to a lesser extent, the Indian rupee.

In July, Indian oil refiners began paying for part of their oil imports from Russia in Chinese yuan.