The Central Bank of Nigeria sold yuan at a range of N49-51 at its first auction of the Chinese currency last week, traders said yesterday.

The auction, which is part of an attempt to encourage the use of an alternative trading currency, particularly given the high level of imports from China, sold the yuan for immediate value and for 15-day settlement, traders said.

Some lenders got as much as 60 per cent of the volume they applied for, while one bank got just five per cent. They said the volume sold was based on the price quoted for the yuan at the auction.

China is Nigeria’s biggest trading partner after the U.S., with trade volumes between the two totaling $9.2 billion in 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nigeria runs a deficit, importing $7.6 billion of goods including textiles and machinery from China and exporting just $1.6 billion, mainly oil and gas.