China-Africa trade is growing rapidly. Grey wants to build the rails for it

By the end of 2026, trade between China and Africa is expected to exceed $400 billion. In the first half of the year alone, $203.5 billion worth of transactions flowed through the China-Africa trade corridor.

While an estimated 60% of that trade is directly tied to governments and state-backed entities, the remainder flows between businesses. 

But behind the headline trade figures is a growing network of African businesses and individuals buying inventory, machinery, electronics, textiles and manufacturing inputs from Chinese suppliers.

China’s position as the world’s manufacturing powerhouse, combined with its ability to produce goods at competitive prices, has made it an increasingly important source of supply for African businesses. From large importers to small retailers, companies across the continent increasingly depend on Chinese suppliers to keep their businesses running.

But the financial infrastructure connecting the two sides has not always kept pace with the trade itself.

The cost of moving money across the China-Africa corridor

The US dollar remains the dominant currency for international trade. For an African business or individual looking to pay a supplier in Chinese yuan, that can create an additional layer of complexity.

A traditional payment may require a business to convert its local currency into dollars before converting those dollars into Chinese yuan. Somewhere along that route are often bank charges, foreign-exchange markups and intermediary fees. 

The business is also exposed to changing exchange rates between the time a payment is initiated and when it reaches its destination.

Cross-border payments can also take time to clear as they move through correspondent banking networks and undergo the compliance and regulatory checks required by financial institutions. For a business working against a supplier’s production schedule or a shipping deadline, those additional hours or days can have a tangible commercial cost.

A delayed payment can mean a delayed shipment. A supplier waiting for funds may hold an order, while a business that cannot make a payment quickly enough misses a purchasing opportunity or a favourable price.

For larger businesses, the stakes can be even higher. Relationships with reliable suppliers can produce better pricing, more favourable terms and greater certainty around inventory. When payment systems introduce friction into those relationships, the consequences extend beyond the transaction itself.

The result is that while African businesses can increasingly access China’s manufacturing base, the financial infrastructure required to settle those transactions efficiently can still involve several layers of friction.

Why direct payment rails are gaining ground

For decades, correspondent banking provided the backbone for international payments. It was not necessarily fast or inexpensive, but it was the infrastructure businesses had to work with.

But decades of advances in financial technology have fundamentally altered what customers expect from financial services. Digital businesses now operate in real time, and consumers increasingly expect money to move with the same speed as information.

Fintech companies have responded by building payment infrastructure around specific corridors, currencies and use cases rather than relying exclusively on the general-purpose infrastructure of traditional banking.

Instead of treating a payment to China simply as an international wire that happens to end in a Chinese bank account, newer payment infrastructure can be designed around the requirements of the China corridor itself. 

That means supporting settlement in the local currency, reducing conversion steps and connecting users more directly with domestic payment networks.

The shift is part of a broader evolution in cross-border payments. Businesses increasingly need to hold multiple currencies, move money between markets and settle with counterparties in the currency that makes the most commercial sense.

Grey’s bet on a more connected cross-border payment system

Grey is one fintech company building around this broader shift. Founded in 2020, the company began by addressing the difficulty Africans faced when receiving and managing international payments. 

It has since developed into a multi-currency financial platform serving people and businesses operating across borders.

Grey now serves over 3 million users across more than 80 countries. Its platform provides access to foreign-currency accounts and international payment capabilities. 

In February 2026, it formally launched Grey Business, built for startups and SMEs that need to receive, hold, convert and send money internationally. The product provides businesses with USD corporate accounts, international payment capabilities and currency conversion, while also supporting stablecoins. 

In its first four months, Grey Business processed $61.4 million in total payment volume, suggesting significant demand for simple ways for businesses to move money across borders.

Grey has also continued expanding the geographic reach of its platform. In July 2026, it added local-currency deposits in Ghana and Kenya, allowing users in those markets to fund their Grey accounts directly through local payment channels, including bank transfers and mobile money. 

How Grey’s CNY payouts work

Grey’s CNY payout service allows users to send Chinese yuan directly to both business and personal bank accounts in China.

The service supports transfers to all operating banks in China. Users can fund CNY payments using balances held in USD, EUR or GBP, as well as stablecoin balances.

For African businesses and individuals purchasing from Chinese suppliers, this creates a more direct connection between the currency they hold and the currency their supplier receives.

The service is also designed around relatively predictable processing. Transfers are typically completed within 24 hours on business days, although payments are subject to a 10:00 GMT cutoff.

Pricing is set at a flat $2.80 per transaction, with transfers ranging from a minimum of 50 CNY to a maximum of 21,000 CNY per transaction.

Those specifications make the service relevant to more than large importers. A business paying a Chinese manufacturer for inventory represents one use case, but the same payment infrastructure can support freelancers, students, families and individuals who need to send money to recipients in China.

For businesses, however, the more significant proposition is reducing friction between purchasing and settlement. Grey’s CNY payouts sets out to reduce some of that friction. 

That does not eliminate every challenge associated with cross-border commerce. Foreign-exchange movements, compliance requirements, supplier verification and logistics remain part of the process. But it can reduce the number of financial steps sitting between the buyer and the seller.

The bigger shift is in how African businesses move money

Grey’s expansion is part of a larger change in African financial services. For years, cross-border payment infrastructure was largely designed around the needs of banks and large institutions.

Smaller businesses often had to fit themselves into systems that were not designed around their transaction sizes, currencies or operating models.

Fintechs are increasingly reversing that relationship. Instead of asking businesses to adapt to the limitations of existing infrastructure, they are building products around how those businesses actually operate: receiving payments from international customers, paying overseas suppliers, holding multiple currencies, converting between currencies and increasingly using stablecoins as part of their treasury operations.

Grey’s recent expansion illustrates that progression. The company has moved from helping individuals receive international income to building financial infrastructure for businesses, expanding into new markets and adding more ways for customers to move money between local and international financial systems. 

Its partnership with dLocal, for instance, has helped Grey expand cross-border payouts into emerging markets, including Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines and South Africa. 

As African businesses deepen their relationships with Chinese manufacturers and suppliers, the question is no longer simply whether money can move between the two markets. It is whether it can move quickly and in the currency that businesses actually need.