OREANDA-NEWS  In the summer of 2023, African countries mainly paid with Russia for imports and exports with the currencies of friendly countries, reducing the use of the ruble in operations, reports RBC with reference to the Central Bank.

"The share of currencies of friendly countries in the calculations for exports amounted to 78.8%. This is the highest level since January 2021. The share of "unfriendly" currencies (primarily the dollar and the euro), on the contrary, decreased to 8.5 from 12.6% in June and 58.9% in May," the publication reports.

While in February 2023, the percentage of payments by African countries for exports from Russia in rubles was 82.4%, in July the figure fell to 12.7% due to the weakening of the ruble exchange rate, the author explains.

Africa is likely to switch to settlement in yuan and rupees, Alexander Knobel, director of the RANEPA Center for International Trade Research, told RBC.