African Bank Explores Chinese Yuan Payments Program

 Nigeria Startup News posted on 24 April 2026 an article titled "Ecobank Moves to Enable Direct Yuan Payments for Africa-China Trade by 2026" by Paulinus Sunday. 

Pan-African Ecobank is in discussion with the Bank of China to establish a settlement framework that would allow payments to be made in Chinese yuan by the end of 2026, reducing dependence on the U.S. dollar.  Ecobank's yuan settlement plan signals a growing shift towards a more diversified and multipolar payments ecosystem for African trade.

Ethiopia-China Debt Talks

 The Ethiopian News Agency posted on 3 April 2026 an article titled "Landmark Ethiopia-China Talks Unlock Debt Deal, New Airport Financing."

Discussions between the Ethiopian and Chinese ministers of finance "marked a meaningful step" in restructuring Ethiopia's existing debt stock.  They reportedly reached agreement on debt treatment but did not sign a final agreement.

Ethiopia Today published on 3 April 2026 an article titled "From Dollars to Yuan: Ethiopia and China Move Toward a New Era of Financial Cooperation."

Reporting on a meeting between the governors of the National Bank of Ethiopia and the People's Bank of China, this account said the two countries are exploring an aggressive shift toward the Chinese Renminbi (RMB) to bypass the U.S. dollar in bilateral trade.

Chinese Loan Commitments to Africa Fall in 2024

 Reuters published on 22 January 2026 an article titled "China's Africa Lending Nearly Halved in 2024, Shifts to Yuan" by Colleen Goko.  

Chinese lending to Africa fell to $2.1 billion in 2024, almost 50 percent less than in 2023 and one-tenth of its peak lending year to Africa in 2016 when it loaned $28.8 billion.  The lower levels of lending reflect China's move away from large infrastructure projects such as railways and roads and toward smaller, commercially viable projects.

China has also increasingly pivoted away from dollar-denominated megaprojects characteristic of the early Belt and Road Initiative and toward smaller-scale financing denominated in yuan.  The five highest recipients of Chinese loans from 2000 through 2024 are Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, and Nigeria.

Africa Becomes a Testing Ground for China's Yuan Globalization

 Discovery Alert, an AI-powered mining news publisher, posted on 19 January 2026 an article titled "China's Yuan Globalisation in Africa Accelerates Through 2026" by Muflih Hidayat.  

Africa is emerging as the testing ground for the Chinese yuan to replace the US dollar as China becomes more dominant in African trade.  Factors that support continued growth in China's yuan globalization in Africa are trade expansion, infrastructure investment, debt restructuring, regional integration, and technology advancement.  

Zambia First African Country to Allow Chinese Companies to Pay Taxes in Yuan

 Bloomberg published on 19 January 2026 an article titled "China Plants Another Africa Marker in Campaign to Globalise Yuan."

Zambia is the first African country to let Chinese companies pay taxes in yuan as Beijing seeks to internationalize the currency and dilute dollar dependence.  Other African countries may follow Zambia's example.  

Is China Winning Competition with US for Influence in Africa?

 Singapore's Chinese-language daily, Lianhe Zaobao, published on 30 November 2025 an article titled "Africa's Resource Battle: Has the China-US Contest Already Been Decided?" by Shen Yue. The article reports comments by Amit Jain, Director of the Nanyang Technical University-Singapore Business Federation, (NTU-SBF) Centre for African Studies.  NTU-SBF provided an English-language translation of the article.

The author increasingly sees China as taking the lead over the United States in Africa with critical minerals as the main attraction for both countries.  China is by far the largest trading partner with Africa, albeit heavily Chinese exports to the continent, while US trade with Africa has fallen sharply since its peak in 2009.  Foreign direct investment (FDI) from China and the US varies from year to year but in 2024 Chinese FDI in Africa totaled $3.4 billion while the US figure was a negative $2 billion due to disinvestment.  The US dollar is still the major currency in trade transactions, but the use of Chinese yuan is growing each year.

IMF Warns Kenya and Ethiopia on Swapping Dollar Loans for Yuan

 The Kenya Times published on 11 November 2025 an article titled "IMF Warns Kenya of Currency Risks after Swapping Dollar Loan for Yuan" by Annah Nanjala Wekesa.  

The International Monetary Fund warns that switching Chinese debt from US dollars to yuan may lower servicing costs, but it can introduce currency risks depending on their structure.   

Kenya Swaps Dollar Payments to China for Yuan

 The Kenya Times published on 7 October 2025 an article titled "How Kenya Will Save Ksh 27 Billion Annually after Major Loan Deal with China" by Jason Ndunyu.

Kenya is converting repayment from US dollars to Chinese yuan of its $5 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China used to build the Standard Guage Railway from Mombasa to the outskirts of Nairobi.  This agreement is expected to save Kenya about $215 million annually in debt servicing costs.   

Kenya to Swap US Dollar Debt for Chinese Yuan

 The South China Morning Post published on 5 September 2025 an article titled "Kenya's Plan to Switch Debt Payments to China from US Dollars to Yuan Is a 'Win-Win'."

Kenya plans to convert its large debt to China from US dollars to Chinese yuan.  This would reduce interest payments for Kenya and advance China's goal of increasing the global use of its currency.  It could also set a precedent for other countries to seek debt reduction with China and reduce reliance on the US dollar.  

Can Africa Benefit from Devalued Chinese Yuan?

The National Law Review, an open source database, published on 4 September 2015 a commentary titled "China Sneezes: Could Africans Benefit from a Devalued Yuan?" by Ashwin Kaja, associate at the Beijing office of the international law firm Covington and Burling. 

On the negative side, the author notes a weakened yuan could result in decreased exports of African goods to China and increased imports of Chinese goods by Africa.  Some African countries, on the other hand, particularly those that import Chinese capital goods, may benefit from a weakened yuan as the cost may go down. 

The situation is complicated because most African countries use U.S. dollars instead of yuan when trading with China.  This makes it more difficult to determine the impact of a devaluation on Africa-China trade.  Whether the yuan actually devalues relative to African countries will depend on a country-by-country analysis when the dollar is used for trading.

If China's economy is now growing at a lower rate than the officially proclaimed 7 percent, Africa's and the entire global economy are likely to be impacted negatively.