Bank of Kigali has become the first bank headquartered in East and Central Africa to join China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) as a direct participant, giving Rwandan businesses a more direct route for yuan payments to and from China.

The agreement was signed on Sept. 8 in Xiamen, China, during the second CIPS Cross-Border Bank-Enterprise Cooperation Event.

For customers, the connection means yuan payments can move through a direct link to China’s renminbi clearing infrastructure, potentially reducing the number of intermediary banks involved, lowering transaction costs and improving settlement times.

The move does not replace SWIFT. CIPS and SWIFT can operate alongside each other, with CIPS providing clearing and settlement infrastructure for renminbi transactions.

The development comes as China becomes increasingly important to Rwanda’s trade. China accounted for 26.7% of Rwanda’s imports in the first quarter of 2026, worth about $355.5 million, and 25.8% of exports. Bilateral trade reached about $1.76 billion in 2024.

Bank of Kigali already has relationships with Bank of Communications, China Construction Bank and Bank of China. It plans to increase its Chinese banking partners to six by the end of 2026.

The bank also introduced Alipay transfers in 2022, with customers sending nearly $2 million to China through the service in 2023.

CIPS had 210 direct and 1,619 indirect participants globally as of June 2026. South Africa’s Standard Bank was previously the first African bank to join directly and is authorised to clear renminbi transactions across 19 African countries.

For Rwandan importers, exporters and other businesses trading with China, the practical impact is greater direct access to China’s payment infrastructure for yuan transactions. The longer-term benefit will depend on how widely businesses use the yuan and how much of that payment activity Bank of Kigali captures.