The Global South Media and Think Tank Forum’s China-Africa partnership conference on Friday heard calls for trade between the continent and the Asian country to be conducted using its currency, the yuan.

Zimbabwe Now managing partner, Monica Mpambawashe, told delegates at the two-day conference held at the Houghton Hotel in Johannesburg that there were already a few countries that were on track to do so.

“Currently, most of our trade is in US dollar denominations, and this is a burden on the people, and there are also a few left out. We need to advocate for trade that is direct between the African countries.

“I think Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Tanzania are already making strides in converting. Kenya, as well, I believe, is converting their debts to China into yuan,” she said.

According to Mpambawashe, her own country, Zimbabwe, was among the few around the world that had a trade surplus with China despite issues about the widening trade deficits between Africa and China.

She said Zimbabwe was exporting more to China than it was importing, and that the relationship between Africa and China can be mutually beneficial.

“One of the very first steps is looking at the currencies that our exchanges happen in,” added Mpambawashe.

She said this would cut down quite a bit of expenses and lessen the burden on the people.

“It also makes trade between ordinary people in China and in Africa easier. And that brings about understanding and cooperation at the ordinary people’s level,” Mpambawashe explained.

Sierra Leone News Agency managing director Yeama Sarah Thompson said the next phase of China-Africa collaboration must institutionalise mechanisms for knowledge exchange and public communication.

“I invite all of us to imagine a joint public information and exchange lab that brings together media houses with diversity, think tanks, and youth innovators from both sides.

“Platform designed for collaborative fact-checking, cross-cultural reporting, immersive exchanges, community-centred data gathering, and the co-creation of such initiatives will nurture tools not only between governments but across societies,” Thompson said.

She stated that when researchers and journalists collaborate, decision-making becomes anchored in facts and public discourse becomes more coherent, constructive, and inclusive.

Thompson believes that Africa brings distinct comparative strengths to its cooperation with China.

Reflecting on Sierra Leone’s progress in digital governance — automating public services and promoting institutional transparency — she emphasised a persistent truth: digital transformation necessitates clear, sustained communication. Without it, the result is confusion, not progress. This crucial principle, she noted, holds equally true for China-Africa cooperation.

“Communication is not ancillary to development; it is foundational. Reflecting on this journey, I have learned that trust is often built not in grand announcements but in quiet spaces where information meets limited reality.

“If China-Africa cooperation is to thrive in the decades ahead, we must save that as a bridge of trust,” Thompson explained.

Chen Tian, director of the Think Tank Department of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Promotion Council, called for cooperation not to be unilateral but mutual.

She said think tanks can play a key role in enhancing Africa-China cooperation.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za

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