Ethiopia eyes yuan conversion to escape dollar pressure and strengthen ties with Beijing.

He made this known in an interview in Washington, during the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund, noting that Ethiopia is looking to potentially swap with the Export-Import Bank of China and the People’s Bank of China.

“China is a very important partner for us now, there is growing volume of trade, investment,” the governor said.

“So it really makes sense to arrange some currency swap, but in terms of converting these things as well. So absolutely, this is something in the making — we’ve requested officially and then working on it.”

Tthis potential move by Ethiopia follows a growing trend among several nations, including Sri Lanka, Hungary, and Kenya, that are utilizing the Chinese currency for less expensive financing.

While still in its infancy and dollar-debt markets still dominate, the yuan is expected to play a bigger part in international trade as China seeks to increase the usage of its currency globally and investors start to doubt their dollar holdings due to the US’s unpredictable trade policies.