China’s yuan is quietly but steadily displacing the US dollar across African trade corridors — a shift with growing economic and payments implications.
Trade between China and Africa is on track to approach $400 billion as both exports and imports climb. In 2025 alone, bilateral trade rose 17.7% year‑on‑year, with Chinese exports to Africa jumping 25.8% to $225.03 billion and African imports from China increasing 5.4% to $123.02 billion. That momentum is reflecting in how transactions are settled: more African businesses and banks are using the yuan instead of dollar‑denominated instruments.
A key enabler is China’s Cross‑Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), which streamlines yuan settlement for international transactions. Several major African lenders, including Standard Bank, have joined CIPS, making yuan-denominated settlement a practical and growing option. Ives Yang, head of sales for transactional banking at Standard Bank’s corporate and investment banking unit, told Reuters that yuan trade between China and Africa will continue to expand, driven largely by import‑export flows and efforts to broaden participation across the continent.
Beyond payments infrastructure, China has reinforced its economic footprint in Africa through local‑currency deals, Belt and Road Initiative financing, reduced tariffs, expanded market access and loans — all measures that make yuan use more attractive. High dollar exchange costs are another factor: lower exchange fees and more favorable local‑currency rates can save African banks and businesses millions, nudging them away from dollar reliance.
Politically and strategically, Beijing — led by Xi Jinping — has pushed the yuan as part of a wider effort to internationalize its currency. While the yuan’s role is still far smaller than the US dollar’s, its rate of growth and the infrastructure supporting it suggest considerable expansion potential.
For crypto and payments watchers, this trend matters: it highlights rising demand for efficient cross‑border rails, whether centralized systems like CIPS, central bank digital currencies, or blockchain‑based alternatives. As yuan settlement gains traction in Africa, the global payments landscape — and the competitive space for digital payments solutions and stablecoins — will continue to evolve.
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