By Samuel Ramani
While many worry about China’s economy, Zimbabwe adopts the yuan as its international currency.
China’s currency has certainly been in the news so far this year, but one milestone of sorts at the end of 2015 attracted relatively little attention. On December 22, Zimbabwe became the first foreign country to adopt the Chinese yuan as its primary international currency. Zimbabwe’s Finance Ministry announced this decision after the Chinese government agreed to cancel $40 million in Zimbabwean debt. While critics of Beijing have described this move as neocolonial, Zimbabwean officials have insisted that the adoption of the yuan did not come from Chinese pressure but was instead the natural progression of Robert Mugabe’s “Look East” foreign policy strategy.
Zimbabwe’s isolation from Western markets due to its extreme economic volatility and Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian system has caused China to become its primary international ally in recent years. Chinese president Xi Jinping’s December 1 state visit to Harare reaffirmed China’s commitment to investing in Zimbabwe by announcing multi-billion dollar energy and infrastructure deals.
China’s close ties with Zimbabwe can be explained by historical legacies, normative convergences, and practical economic benefits. Zimbabwe was arguably China’s strongest African ally in the last years of the Cold War, an alliance that has consistently strengthened since 1991. China is also Mugabe’s leading international supporter against Western condemnations of his authoritarian policies. Beijing has also spearheaded economic recovery efforts in Zimbabwe to strengthen its leverage over the country and set a precedent for other alliance-building efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Read the full story at The Diplomat