Kenyan President William Ruto Urges African Countries to Commence Process to Ditch the Dollar

Kenyan President William Ruto recently urged his counterparts on the African continent to kickstart the process of ditching the U.S. dollar and replacing it with a pan-African settlement system. Ruto said the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS) allows business people to focus on moving goods and services.

Pan-African Settlement System to Help African Countries Bypass U.S. Dollar

Kenyan President William Ruto has called on fellow African leaders to start taking steps aimed at replacing the U.S. dollar with an alternative payment solution known as the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS). According to Ruto, this alternative settlement system, which was launched in Jan. 2022, allows African countries to use their respective currencies when trading among themselves.

The Kenyan leader, who spoke at a forum of government and private sector officials, suggested that African countries can commence the process of ditching the dollar by encouraging central banks and commercial banks to join PAPSS.

As explained in an East African report, the alternative payment system, which is backed by central banks on the African continent, was developed by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) Secretariat.

Explaining why African countries must abandon the dollar, the Kenyan leader reportedly said:

We are all struggling to make payments for goods and services from one country to another because of differences in currencies. And in the middle of all these, we are all subjected to a dollar environment.

Ruto, however, suggested that when the settlement system is in play, business people’s only concern should be how to move goods and services. According to the Kenyan president, the “arduous task of currencies” will be left to Afreximbank, a pan-African multilateral trade finance institution.

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