by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – SOUTH African businesses have joined widening calls across the Global South to reduce dependence on the United States dollar by adopting China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS).
Supporters argue that expanding transactions in the Chinese yuan will help shield developing countries from the long-standing practice of the U.S. and its Western allies using global financial systems to impose punitive sanctions on governments that resist geopolitical pressure.
The shift follows the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) official launch of CIPS integration last week, enabling Standard Bank—Africa’s largest lender by assets—to facilitate yuan-denominated payments for South African companies, regional businesses in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and firms across the continent trading with Chinese suppliers.
Many South Africans welcomed the move, calling it timely amid deteriorating relations between Pretoria and Washington under U.S. President Donald Trump, whose foreign policy conduct is viewed locally as unpredictable and confrontational.
CIPS, Beijing’s alternative to the U.S.-anchored dollar clearing networks, offers participating countries a way to conduct international trade without relying on systems vulnerable to unilateral sanctions.
For decades, the West has exerted influence through institutions such as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
While SWIFT itself does not impose sanctions, Western governments often pressure the network to disconnect targeted states, effectively isolating them from the global financial system.
This occurred most prominently when the U.S, the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pushed for Russia’s partial removal from SWIFT following the Ukraine conflict.
Critics in the Global South argue that such actions constitute economic coercion and disproportionately harm weaker economies.
“If one examines Western financial history, it becomes clear that the U.S. and its allies frequently weaponise these systems to impose unlawful embargoes on nations that refuse to comply with their foreign policy demands,” said Clifford Moyo, a Zimbabwean entrepreneur based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Nigerian trader Adaeze Adeyemi echoed the sentiment, saying, “Africa must diversify its payment channels to avoid being trapped by sanctions tied to SWIFT and other Western tools used to punish countries that don’t toe the line.”
Online commentators also praised the move. Wanderlust Josifundza noted that the EU’s actions against Russia demonstrated how easily SWIFT can be politicised, while Marc Vern said South Africa’s deeper integration with the yuan reflects the country’s growing economic alignment with China.
Another user, Fanya Mambo Africa, highlighted that yuan settlement represents “a significant shift in international trade finance, enabling businesses to bypass the dollar and settle directly.”
Advocates of yuan adoption argue that reducing dependence on the dollar limits exposure to what they call “dollar weaponisation,” where access to dollar clearing is threatened or restricted to influence political outcomes.
Using the yuan through CIPS, they say, offers developing nations more autonomy, reduces sanctions vulnerability, and broadens financial partners beyond the Western sphere.
As South Africa strengthens its strategic ties with China, many believe that embracing the yuan marks a major turning point in how the nation—and the continent—conducts international trade.
— CAJ News