Bank of Kigali has officially joined the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), becoming the first financial institution in East and Central Africa to participate directly in the Chinese network. The agreement was signed on September 8 in Xiamen, China, during the second CIPS Cross-Border Bank-Enterprise Cooperation Event.
The CIPS platform, established by the People’s Bank of China in 2015, enables direct settlement of cross-border renminbi transactions. By bypassing traditional intermediaries, the bank expects to reduce costs and processing times for payments involving Chinese goods and investment capital.
This move builds on the bank's existing infrastructure for Chinese payments, following a 2022 partnership with Alipay and Ant Group for yuan-denominated remittances. The decision follows an 18% increase in trade volumes between Africa and China recorded in the previous year.
Other African financial institutions have also moved to integrate with Chinese systems. Standard Bank of South Africa joined as a participant in 2025, while Ecobank is currently exploring similar integration strategies to facilitate deeper engagement with Chinese financial infrastructure.
