An executive from the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called on the government to conduct cross-border settlements in cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
The speaker of the chamber, Sergei Katyrin, sent a letter to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, providing a set of proposals to develop cooperation with African countries, the local state publication TASS reported Thursday.
In the letter, Katyrin allegedly advocated the use of CBDCs and cryptocurrencies for mutual settlements and payments as part of Russia's move into Africa amid Western sanctions, stating:
"It seems useful to instruct the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, together with the Central Bank, to ensure the provision of intergovernmental agreements with African states on the use of national currencies and cryptocurrencies in mutual settlements and payments."
The executive went on to say that it is important to establish a special export-import bank and trust fund to support export activities in small and medium-sized enterprises in African countries.
The news comes as several countries in Africa are considering cooperating with Russia-linked blockchain networks.
On Monday, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo issued a joint announcement on the national plans to adopt TON, the layer 1 proof-of-stake blockchain started by Telegram. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also reportedly considering launching a new national stablecoin built on the TON blockchain.
Although Telegram is not formally involved in the TON blockchain after leaving the project in May 2020, co-founder of Telegram Pavel Durov expressed his public support of TON and its possible integrations in the Telegram messenger at the end of 2021.
โEach of these countries will undertake a gradual transition to adopt cryptocurrency as a central pillar of their economic structures,โ the countries said in the announcement.
Russia is still working on a federal bill on cryptocurrencies later ban residents from payments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) in early 2021. In mid-February, the Bank of Russia officially launched the test of the digital rublesuccessfully completing the first CBDC transfers between citizens.
Related: Crypto Users in Africa Grew 2,500% in 2021: Report
Several countries in Africa have also made progress with the development of CBDCs, with countries such as Kenya and the Republic of South Africa. reporting some progress with CBDCs at the beginning of this year. Last year, Ghana was working to build offline capacity for its CBDC potential in a bid to promote its use across all segments of society.
Post navigation
