As part of African Business Review’s look back at the biggest news from 2011, we revisit a story from August.

Up to 40 percent of China’s trade will be denominated by renminbi by 2015, according to research by Standard Bank.

China’s influence as Africa’s largest trading partner and investor has attracted much press coverage in recent years, and the South African bank’s research paper findings suggest that $100 billion of China’s trade will be in Chinese Yuan instead of US Dollars.

"In addition, at least $10 billion of Chinese investment in Africa will be denominated in renminbi over the same period," said Standard Bank’s Beijing-based economist Jeremy Stevens.

The change, which will be gradual, is symptomatic of a more multi polar world," Stevens said. He added that China had no intention of getting rid of the dollar, but wanted to widen the currency's geographical reach and allow the renminbi to be used for investment purposes.