Ghana’s Stanbic Bank is piloting a payment system that allows businesses to pay Chinese suppliers directly in yuan from their cedi accounts, potentially cutting costs, speeding up transfers and reducing reliance on the US dollar.
Footage filmed on Wednesday in Accra shows workers manufacturing and packaging products at Amanex Company, US dollar banknotes being counted and customers conducting transactions at Stanbic Bank.
“We do a lot of transactions in China <…> we always have issues with our foreign currency, that is the United States dollar, that we always have to transfer to China. And as a matter of fact, it is one of our biggest challenges,” said Amanex CEO Eric Amanquanor.
His company imports around three containers of raw materials from China each month, but difficulties securing dollars can delay payments to suppliers.
“If we can transfer the RMB or the yuan to China, and with our local currency, I think it’s better,” he added.
The system uses China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), allowing eligible customers to send payments through a more direct banking channel.
“In the past it used to take about three, four, or five days for payments to arrive at the destination, but with this direct interface, we now are able to do it in T+1,” said Stanbic Bank executive Musah Abdallah.
The bank says the system also supports payments from China to Ghana, potentially reducing currency conversion steps and speeding up transactions.
“There is a place for CIPS, there’s a place for PAPSS, and there’s a place for SWIFT,” said Sylvia Sinkari of the Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory.
China is one of Ghana’s biggest trading partners, supplying machinery, industrial materials and consumer goods. Launched in 2015, CIPS facilitates international payments in yuan, offering an alternative channel for cross-border transactions.
Source: Viory
