For Rwandan traders importing goods from China, paying suppliers sometimes means finding US dollars, using Alipay or asking someone else to make the payment on their behalf and transferring the money.
Gentil Tumukunde, an importer, said traders often resort to such arrangements when they cannot access the yuan (RMB), the Chinese currency.
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"Sometimes we use Alipay, or we carry dollars, but often we also fail to get the dollars. We send money to people we know who live in China and ask them to make the payments for us. But that also comes with a cost because you have to compensate them for their time and for being there to help you,” he said.
That could change as Bank of Kigali has joined China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), making payments to Chinese suppliers more direct and reducing currency conversion costs for businesses.
BK became the first bank in Rwanda, and the first bank headquartered in East and Central Africa, to join CIPS as a direct participant. The agreement was signed on September 8 in Xiamen, China. BK said the connection will make Rwanda-China payments more direct and reduce the number of intermediaries involved in some transactions.
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The development comes as trade between Rwanda and China continues to grow.
China was Rwanda's largest source of imports in the second quarter of 2026, with goods worth $415.89 million imported from the country between April and June, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda. China accounted for 25.89 per cent of Rwanda's total imports during the quarter.
The cost of changing currencies
Teddy Kaberuka, an economist, said one of the challenges facing importers is the number of currency conversions involved in some China-bound payments.
He said an importer may start with Rwandan francs, convert them into US dollars and then convert the dollars into Chinese yuan before paying a supplier.
"There was a triangulation; each conversion can come with an exchange-rate difference, commissions and other transaction costs. Because every time you change from one currency to another one, you lose,” he said.
For businesses making large payments, Kaberuka said those costs can add up.
"Basically, the reality was, we were buying money, and then we were buying commodities, the ability to make more direct RMB payments could reduce some of those conversion costs if businesses are able to access yuan without first going through the dollar,” he said.
However, Kaberuka said, the actual benefit for importers will depend on how Bank of Kigali structures its RMB services, including the exchange rates and fees offered to customers.
Pressure on the dollar
Kaberuka said widespread use of the dollar for China-related imports also adds to demand for US currency in Rwanda
"But CIPS participation does not mean Rwanda-China trade will automatically stop using the dollar,” he said.
"CIPS is designed for cross-border payments and settlement in RMB. BK's direct participation gives it a more direct connection to that network, while the extent to which individual importers can move from Rwandan francs directly into RMB will depend on the banking arrangements and services made available to customers.”
For John Bosco Kalisa, an economist, Bank of Kigali’s participation in CIPS is significant because it can reduce the transaction costs associated with currency conversion for businesses trading with China.
"Importers and exporters have often incurred additional costs when payments require multiple currency conversions, particularly where the US dollar is used as an intermediary currency,” he said.
"Making payments more directly in the currency of the trading partner can reduce some of these costs and make cross-border trade more efficient. Given the volume of trade between Rwanda and China, this could have a meaningful impact on businesses that regularly make payments to Chinese suppliers.”
Growing Rwanda-China trade
The timing of the move comes as China remains Rwanda's top trading partner.
In the first quarter of 2026, Rwanda imported $355.53 million worth of goods from China, making it the country's largest import source.
By the second quarter, the value had risen to $415.89 million.
At the same time, Rwanda's exports to China have also been increasing. The country exported goods worth $142.38 million to China in the second quarter, more than three times the $40.88 million recorded in the same period a year earlier.