Visa barriers set for ouster after African trade bloc Comesa launches digital payments system
The initiative seeks to assist medium, small and micro enterprises, who account for 80 per cent of business and 60 per cent of employment in member states, but have to deal with “cumbersome, insecure and expensive” cross-border payments systems, he said.
‘Enshittification’ of American power: How US hegemony is sustained by network logic that’s difficult and expensive to break away from
So dollar clearing is an expedient. It’s also the chief enforcement mechanism of US financial policy across the globe. If foreign banks don’t implement US financial sanctions and other measures, they risk losing access to US dollar clearing and going under. This threat is so existentially dire that, when Lam was placed under US sanctions
As Africa pioneers non-dollar payments systems, Trump responds with threat to impose stiff tariffs
The move by Africa to create payments systems that do not rely on the greenback mirrors a push by China to develop financial systems independent of Western institutions. Countries like Russia, which face economic sanctions, are also keen for an alternative to the dollar.
