reuters.com
www.reuters.com

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/66369231

Surging Chinese trade with Africa and lifting of tariffs for most countries on the continent look set to boost yuan use, aiding ​Beijing’s bid to build alternatives to Western finance.

International Monetary Fund research has found that yuan usage rises with trade exposure to China

Kenya last year converted three Chinese railway construction loans from dollars into yuan, cutting about $215 million a year in interest ​costs, while Zambia said in late 2025 it would begin accepting mining royalties and taxes from Chinese firms in yuan to boost its ​reserves and help service debt ⁠to China.

China’s yuan-denominated imports and exports jumped 14% in April to 4.38 trillion yuan ($647 billion) year-on-year, Chinese government officials said, without giving a figure for Africa.

That trend is visible in Kenya, where avocado exports to the vast Chinese market have surged from 10 to 20 containers a week in 2022 to around 200, with volumes projected to reach 1,000 by 2030, matching shipments to long-standing top market ⁠Europe.

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
    8·
    17 hours ago

    Every time China visits we get a hospital, every time Britain visits we get a lecture

    ~ Dr Lubinda Haabazoka, Director of the University of Zambia Graduate School of Business and former President of the Economics Association of Zambia

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        3·
        15 hours ago

        every time China wants to cancel a human rights event in Zambia

        RightsCon 2026

        Bow-motherfuckin’-wow.

        I do like how you rebutted the “China builds a hospital, UK sends a lecture” by linking to a series of TED Talks, though.

        The same is true for Kenya

        I bet it is.

        • Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.org
          2·
          15 hours ago

          On April 27, one day after a government press release endorsed RightsCon, we received a phone call from MoTS about an urgent issue and were told that diplomats from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were putting pressure on the Government of Zambia because Taiwanese civil society participants were planning to join us in person.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
            1·
            15 hours ago

            Tell you what, I’ll start condemning China for fighting “Taiwanese Civil Society Participants” when I hear your people start condemning the mass forced closure of Confucious Centers in the states.

            The number of Confucius Institutes at U.S. universities and colleges declined since 2019, from about 100 to fewer than five. Schools most commonly cited the potential loss of federal funding and external pressures as contributing to their decision to close their Confucius Institute. More than 60 percent of the 74 respondents to GAO’s survey stated that the potential loss of or ineligibility for federal funding, such as Department of Defense funding subject to limitations in the FY 2019 and FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Acts, contributed to “a great extent” to the institution’s decision to close the Confucius Institute. Schools also cited pressure from U.S. government, congressional, or state representatives among other factors that contributed to their decision.