Nanyang Technological University published on 6 July 2026 an article titled "Assessing Ethiopia's Economic Reform and Outlook" by Rafiq Raji.
Ethiopia's economic growth since 2022 has averaged about 8.5 percent and is projected to maintain that rate at least until 2030, assuming there are no catastrophic events such as a war in Tigray region or with Eritrea. Inflation is trending down and Ethiopia has restructured its significant level of debt. The country's exports are doing well.
TrendsNAfrica published on 1 July 2026 an article titled "China's New Gold Strategy Runs Through Africa: How Beijing Is Rewriting the Global Bullion Market."
Beijing is quietly reshaping the mechanics of the international gold trade. Its strategy involves dismantling speculative domestic paper-gold trading while building an international ecosystem centered on physical bullion, yuan-based settlements, and African mineral wealth.
About 40 percent of the world's remaining underground gold reserves are located in Africa. China is reducing its holdings of US Treasury securities and replacing them with gold purchases, especially in Africa.
360 Angola posted on 10 July 2026 an article titled "Angola's Central Bank Adds Chinese Yuan to Foreign-Currency Reserve Requirements."
The National Bank of Angola has determined that commercial banks operating in the domestic market must now include the Chinese renminbi (yuan) as an eligible currency for making mandatory foreign-currency reserve requirements. This decision is an indication of Angola's deepening financial ties with China.
Reuters published on 26 June 2026 an article titled "China Approves Standard Bank, ICBC for Africa Yuan Clearing" by Colleen Goko.
China's central bank authorized South Africa's Standard Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to clear Renminbi across Africa, as Beijing steps up efforts to promote the global use of its currency. Standard Bank and ICBC will operate jointly as the "Renminbi Clearing Bank of Africa" with authority to clear the currency in 19 African countries.
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.
Econfin Agency posted on 24 December 2025 an article titled "Ecobank, Bank of China Sign MOU to Strengthen China-Africa Trade Flows" by Sandrine Gaingne.
Pan-Africa banking group Ecobank and Bank of China (Mauritius) signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the ties and facilitate economic exchanges between China and Africa.
Uganda's The Observer published on 5 December 2025 an article titled "China's Payment System Gains Ground in Africa as Afrexim, Standard Join In."
Afreximbank, Africa's multilateral trade bank, became the first major African institution to join China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), enabling direct and cheaper yuan transactions. Standard Bank Group, the continent's largest lender, followed suit. CIPS gives China an alternative to the Western world's SWIFT.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) owns 20 percent of the Standard Bank Group while the Export-Import Bank of China holds at least 6 percent of Afreximbank.
Ethiopia Insight published on 23 September 2025 a commentary titled "Ethiopia's Central Bank Shake-Up: The Governor's Exit and What It Means" by Abrar Fitwi, Saint Mary's College in Indiana.
The departure of Ethiopia's central bank governor, Mamo Mihretu, highlights the unsettled nature of Ethiopia's economic adjustment efforts.
The Nanyang Technological University posted on 26 June 2025 an article titled "Yuan Payments System Makes Inroads in Africa."
China has added two African financial institutions--African Export-Import Bank and the Johannesburg-based Standard Bank--to its Cross-border Interbank Payments System (CIPS), which is an alternative to the Swift international payments network.
CIPS enables Chinese and foreign banks to clear and settle cross-border payments in Chinese Yuan. The system is a key part of China's strategy to promote the use of the Yuan in global trade and insulate it from potential adverse Western actions.
Dialogue Earth published on 31 March 2025 a study titled "Power Plays: China's Changing Energy Financing in Africa" by Wu Tianyi.
The nature of Chinese bank loans to Africa is changing. Major Chinese policy banks such as the China Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of China are decreasing financing while commercial banks such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the state-owned Sinohydro are increasing financing. This change represents a diminished appetite for risk and prioritizing of sustainable investment.
The UK-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) published in October 2024 a study titled "China's Creditor Diversification in Africa" by Tianyi Wu, Oxford University, and Yunnan Chen, ODI.
China's overseas lending is evolving and diversifying. Financing is becoming less concessional and more targeted to commercial sectors in energy and mining. Going forward, commercial creditors are expected to increasingly focus on infrastructure sectors with clear and immediate revenue potential.
The New Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses published on 25 September 2024 an analysis titled "The Houthi Attacks in the Red Sea: Impact on Yemen" by Prasanta Kumar Pradhan.
The Red Sea conflict has created new obstacles in the intra-Yemeni dialogue, slowing the pace of talks and further eroding trust among the parties. The delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people is also disrupted. These developments are worsening Yemen's political, security, and economic situation, making the prospects for peace more tenuous.
The South African Institute of International Affairs published in February 2024 a paper titled "China's Central Bank Digital Currency: A New Force in African Finance?" by Lauren A. Johnston.
The paper sets out the basics of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and of China's digital currency, the e-CNY, in the African context. It offers suggestions on areas of debate that might be encouraged to bring the CBDC out of monetary halls and into the arena of public interest debate.
Reuters published on 31 January 2024 an article titled "S. Africa's ABSA aims to Harness Chinese Corporate Africa Push."
In recent decades, China's involvement in Africa has been defined by large. government loan-backed projects. Johannesburg-listed ABSA Bank believes that trend is changing, and the Chinese private sector is the wave of the future. As a result, ABSA is opening a non-banking subsidiary in Beijing to allow the bank to better understand the needs of new clients. ABSA sees Chinese firms moving deeper into technology, telecoms, light manufacturing, and agriculture in Africa.
Refugees International published on 24 July 2023 a paper titled "Sudan in Crisis: Improving the Response for Sudanese Refugees in Egypt" by Abdullahi Boru Halakhe.
About 120,000 Sudanese are stuck between conflict in Sudan and a hostile environment in Egypt at or near the Sudanese/Egyptian border town of Wadi Halfa in unsanitary conditions where they cannot meet their basic needs for weeks. Relaxation of entry and expediting the refugee determination process, combined with livelihood and labor access by Egyptian authorities and UNHCR, would reduce the humanitarian suffering at the border and inside Egypt.
The Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute published in June 2023 a report titled "Transforming Somalia's Banking Sector to Ignite Economic Growth: Status and Ways Forward" by Uweis Ali.
This report examines the state of the banking sector in Somalia with a focus on key bottlenecks to transforming the sector and offers policy options to address them.
The France 24 Observers published on 17 March 2023 an article titled "Why Is There a Chinese Police Car Patrolling the Streets of Douala, Cameroon?"
A police car with two Cameroonians in police uniform has been spotted patrolling the streets of a neighborhood in Douala, Cameroon that has a large number of Chinese businesses. When first seen, the vehicle had the word "Police" in both French and Mandarin. It also had a logo in Mandarin that translates as "Centre for Cooperation between the Chinese community and the police of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Cameroon." After local residents began asking questions about the vehicle, the Mandarin word for Police disappeared but the logo remained. A local police officer explained that the vehicle escorts Chinese shopkeepers when they transfer money to the bank.
Agence France Presse published on 3 February 2023 an article titled "Ethiopia PM Holds First Meeting with Tigray Leaders Since Peace Deal."
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met for the first time with a TPLF delegation regarding the progress of the peace process. Reports from Tigray Region claim Eritrean Defense Forces and Amhara militia remain in parts of the region but because access is restricted the reports are impossible to verify independently.
Agence France Presse published on 26 December 2022 an article titled "Ethiopia Govt. Team in Rebel Tigray after Nov. 2 Peace Deal."
A high level Ethiopian government team has arrived in the capital of Tigray Region to supervise the implementation of major issues associated with the peace agreement. Eritrean Defense Forces and Amhara militia remain in Tigray.
The Associated Press published on 7 December 2022 an article titled "Electricity, Telecoms Return to Parts of Ethiopia's Tigray."
The government-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation reported on 6 December that Tigray's capital, Mekele, had been reconnected to the national power grid and telecommunications have resumed in parts of southern Tigray. The internet and other services remain largely unavailable and Eritrean troops have not yet left Tigray.
