Across Africa’s bustling commercial hubs, from Nairobi’s Eastleigh market to Lagos’ Alaba district, a financial transformation is quietly unfolding.
Local traders are increasingly sidestepping the US dollar in favour of China’s currency, creating informal yuan payment networks to do business with the world’s second-largest economy.
In Eastleigh, a sprawling commercial hub northeast of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, traders have established a localised system for settling payments for Chinese imports.
Logistics companies act as key agents, offering Kenyan Shilling-yuan conversion services, which allow traders to pay in local currency, while those firms handle yuan payments to Chinese sellers.
The companies also facilitate the flow of goods from sourcing hubs like Guangzhou or Yiwu, where many African traders procure products for sale. Chinese sellers receive payment directly from these logistics companies, which then deliver the goods to offices in Nairobi.
“I simply identify the items I want to buy from a seller and then pay through an agent based here in Nairobi, who also has offices in Guangzhou, my main source for clothing and bags,” said Anne Kemunto, a trader based in Eastleigh.
