Western restrictions against Russia are having an impact on African countries, pan-African activist Nathalie Yamb told Sputnik.
In particular, the banning of Russian banks from the SWIFT system is complicating African purchases from Russia.
Purchasing fertilizer now faces obstacles, as it has to be done through foreign intermediaries. Some African countries are also bound hand and foot by their use of the CFA franc, which is pegged to the euro, as the activist points out.
"We are the collateral victims of sanctions on the SWIFT system. Because the CFA is the euro. We used to buy our fertilizers from Russia. Today, we have the money, there are goods, but we can't pay because we don't control our own currency [...]. Now when we go to buy fertilizers in Russia, we have to go through intermediaries in Turkey, China or Dubai, and that increases the cost," she explained.
According to Yamb, the logic of sanctions also applies very directly to Africa, through the principle of extraterritoriality of the dollar.
She stressed that the United States uses the privilege of the greenback to intervene in African affairs. This makes a genuine de-dollarization necessary, via a return to the gold standard, for example, she believes.
"We aspire to the de-dollarization of the economy because the extraterritoriality of the dollar is used to punish people morning, noon and night. Just before the Russia-Africa Summit, Washington again sanctioned three Malian leaders for making the choices that suit them in Mali. We urgently need to return to the gold standard," she declared
Thus, the African nations would be well-advised to refine and store their gold, rather than sell it, adds Nathalie Yamb, who is convinced that this de-dollarization process will gain in importance.