Angola considering joining Russia’s Mir Payment System

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Aug 2022 22:47
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Angola could be the first African nation to use the Mir payment system.

Angola considering joining Russia’s Mir Payment System

Angola may join the Mir payment system, which was developed by Russia in response to Western sanctions, and allow the use of Mir cards in the country, RIA Novosti reported on Saturday, citing Luanda’s Ambassador to Russia Augusto da Silva Cunha.

“Technically, the use of the Mir system in Angola is possible ... I believe that Angola can join this system, but under condition of worthwhileness,” he said.

“This will crucially depend on the level of our financial and economic relations as well as on the amount of investments in the country. The Angolan government is fully open to Russian investors, and if their share is significant, then, of course, it would be rational and logical to join this system and accept it,” da Silva Cunha added.

The envoy also said that the two nations may switch to mutual settlements in national currencies, adding that the Russian ruble could easily be used for this purpose.

Russia started developing its own national payment system when the US targeted it with sanctions in 2014. Back then clients of several Russian banks were temporarily unable to use Visa and Mastercard due to the restrictions.

Launched in 2017, Mir is a Russian banking system, meaning both "peace" and "world" in the language. With the West's current isolation measures of Russia, Iran, Cuba, and other countries from the SWIFT banking system, friendlier alternatives have been on the rise in a bid to combat the West's economic hegemony and aggression.

Since the introduction of the new system, Russian banks have already issued more than 129 million MIR cards. They are currently accepted in Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia.

Last week, the Iranian finance ministry's banking and insurance department said that Iran could join the Mir payment system within months of when talks between Tehran and Moscow reach a conclusion. This, according to Qorban Eskandari, the department's head, could be in the very near future.

Ehud Yaari, Israeli Channel 12's Arab affairs commentator said in response to this that he does not think there is a way to stop Russian-Iranian cooperation.

He indicated that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi spoke four times with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, adding that this does not usually happen between countries in such a short period of time without a time of crisis.

Earlier this month, Indian media reported that the country’s ATMs and terminals may soon start accepting Russian MIR debit and credit cards, while Russia was planning to reciprocate and begin accepting Indian RuPay.

In July, the head of the economic department of the UAE Embassy in Moscow, Ahmed Al-Ketb, said the nations had started negotiating an agreement that would allow the use of the Mir payment system cards in the Gulf state.