The usage of RMB in South Africa increased by 33 percent in the past year, and 191 percent in the past two years, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT).

In June 2015, one third of the payment between South Africa and Chinese Mainland, South Africa and Hong Kong were made using RMB. In addition, the National Bank of Kenya just opened a new branch that will host a clearing house for Chinese RMB in Nairobi on July 23, 2015. In the same month, People's Bank of China appointed Bank of China’s branch in Johannesburg as the first RMB clearing bank in Africa.

Munir Ahmed, CEO of Kenya National Bank, noted that RMB is now one of the most stable currencies in the world, some governments and national banks in Africa have purchased RMB bonds as their foreign exchange reserve. Of the 24 countries that have publically announced to have RMB holdings, six of them are from Africa: Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Angola, and Tanzania.