AFRICA — China’s renminbi is steadily taking a bigger role in Africa’s trade and financial system as expanding China-Africa commerce drives demand for direct yuan settlement, payment and financing.
The latest signs of the shift are emerging across the continent. In August, Stanbic Bank Tanzania launched a direct RMB settlement service, allowing Tanzanian businesses trading with China to make and receive payments directly in yuan.
The development comes amid wider expansion of RMB financial infrastructure across Africa. In June, China authorised Standard Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to jointly operate as the Renminbi Clearing Bank of Africa, with capacity to clear RMB transactions across 19 African countries. Standard Bank had earlier become the first African bank authorised to participate in China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). (Standard Bank CIB)
According to the People’s Bank of China, cross-border RMB receipts and payments between China and Africa reached 155.33 billion yuan ($23.14 billion) in 2024, representing a 28.1 percent increase from the previous year.
RMB transactions linked specifically to trade in goods rose even faster, reaching 56.37 billion yuan, up 35.9 percent. (Wuhan PBC)
Why the Yuan Matters to African Businesses
The appeal is straightforward.
Businesses that regularly import from or export to China can potentially reduce unnecessary currency conversions when transactions are settled directly in RMB. This can provide an additional payment option and help businesses manage foreign-exchange costs and risks.
The shift is also moving beyond ordinary trade payments, with RMB increasingly being incorporated into Africa-China financial and payment infrastructure.
What It Means for Nigeria
The development deserves attention in Nigeria, where China remains a major economic partner.
For Nigerian businesses importing Chinese machinery, technology and manufactured goods — or seeking to increase exports to China — broader access to RMB settlement could eventually provide an alternative to transactions that depend heavily on the US dollar.
But the bigger opportunity is on the export side.
For Nigeria, the emerging RMB infrastructure also raises a bigger question: can the country position its banks and businesses to take advantage of new China-Africa payment channels while expanding the volume and value of Nigerian exports to China?
If Nigerian exporters can sell more agricultural products, minerals and manufactured goods to China while accessing efficient RMB payment channels, the currency shift could become part of a wider China-Nigeria trade strategy.
That could make the yuan story more than a currency development — and turn it into part of the wider conversation around trade, investment, finance and Nigeria-China economic cooperation.
