"Johannesburg, South Africa On a late November morning two days before leaders of the world's leading economies convened in Johannesburg for the 2025 Group of 20 summit the governors of the South African and Chinese central banks met just 20 minutes away to inaugurate a system that many hope can help move international trade out of the shadow of dollar dominance."
"At a ceremony at the South African Reserve Bank in Pretoria that day, Standard Bank Africa's largest by assets became the first on the continent to link directly into China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). This integration means African businesses can now settle payments with China directly in renminbi without the use of any intermediary currency notably the United States dollar (USD)."
"The USD has been the world's principal reserve currency since the end of World War II, and is used in more than 80 percent of international trade today. But in recent years, talk of alternatives to the greenback has been gaining traction, particularly in the Global South, and spearheaded by the BRICS group of developing economies, of which South Africa is a part, along with Brazil, Russia, India and China as the founding members."
BRICS and several Global South countries are actively reducing reliance on the US dollar by increasing use of local currencies and alternative payment systems. Standard Bank linked to China's Cross‑Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), allowing African businesses to settle payments with China directly in renminbi without intermediary currencies. The US dollar remains the principal reserve currency and is used in over 80 percent of international trade, but trade settlements in yuan, real, rupee, dirham and other local currencies are rising. Brazil, India, the UAE, China and others now settle significant bilateral trade in non‑USD currencies, including yuan settlements for LNG and soybean transactions.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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