Ecobank yuan‑settlement talks

Ecobank is in talks with Bank of China to let African clients settle some China trade directly in yuan by the end of 2026. (zawya.com) Ecobank Chief Executive Jeremy Awori said the product would convert local African currencies straight into yuan instead of routing payments through the U.S. dollar. Reuters reported the talks on April 21 from Nairobi. (zawya.com) The banks already signed a memorandum of understanding on December 22, 2025 through Bank of China (Mauritius) to expand trade finance, cross-border payments and renminbi services. Ecobank said that agreement built on a relationship dating to 2010. (ecofinagency.com, guardian.ng) The plumbing matters because many African importers now pay extra conversion costs when a local-currency transaction is first turned into dollars and only then into yuan. A direct rail can cut one currency step out of the process. (businessday.ng, tradefinanceglobal.com) The timing follows a bigger trade shift. Chinese customs data cited this week by China Daily put China-Africa trade at a record $348 billion in 2025, up 17.7% from a year earlier. (chinadaily.com.cn) Separate data compiled by the China Africa Research Initiative showed Africa exported a record $99 billion to China in 2024 and imported $179 billion, with minerals, oil and manufactured goods driving much of the flow. South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt were among the biggest importers of Chinese goods. (sais-cari.org) Ecobank has the footprint to test a product like this at scale. The bank says it operates in 35 sub-Saharan African countries, giving it a built-in client base of importers, exporters and treasury desks that already move money across borders. (ecobank.com) Awori has tied the push to wider efforts by African firms to reduce reliance on the dollar as U.S. tariff policy and sanctions risks make trade finance less predictable. Bloomberg reported in February that Ecobank was seeing more clients explore renminbi and local-currency settlement. (bloomberg.com) The shift does not mean the dollar disappears from African trade. It means one more large bank is trying to build an alternative route for a growing China-Africa corridor, with a launch target now set for year-end. (zawya.com, ecobank.com)