Excuse my ignorance, but how did Gaddafi face the West's wrath? And what was it for (if not his personal and state-sanctioned support for terrorism)? Was Libya also clearing currency?

I'm not sure the extent of his cooperation with other countries as far as the development of his country went. I visited Tripoli pre-revolution and found that it was surprisingly run down, and if anyone was benefiting from any cooperation that was directly trickling down to the people (as the RMB clearing house will do for Kenya's Wanjiku), it was very effectively hidden.

For all the bravado in the media and his self-promoted 'green revolution', Gaddafi was an absolute economic dunderhead. He was sitting on what was reputed to be Africa's largest oil reserves, and instead of leveraging that to take Libya to the 21st century, he was enriching himself, his family and his cronies. Very small minded idiot.

On the other hand, this move (RMB Clearing House hosted in NBO), will benefit Wanjiku before it can benefit anyone else. Chinese banks will open up in Nairobi in a bid to be appointed the Clearing House host - that alone will attract private sector investment from China. Trade will increase between Kenya, China and other Asian nations, and between Kenya and other African nations wishing to take advantage of RMB Clearing in Nairobi. The economy will benefit, and the trickle down effects to Wanjiku will be felt almost immediately.

The West, meanwhile, will start to play catch-up as they'll want to remain significant. Geopolitically, Kenya is an important partner to Western hemisphere nations. We're playing a very important role in the fight against global terrorism, our new-found oil and mineral wealth makes us an important ally to have economically, and we showed that where necessary, we will defend our sovereignty without asking for assistance (and the West will want to continue being the preferred vendor in this respect). Hence, the West should see this as a positive development and want to promote business between themselves and Kenya as a consequence (yes, I used the "C" word).

In toto, this move should benefit Kenyans on two fronts - increased trade with the East, and increased trade with the West. Brilliant strategy if not a mistake. Let's see how it's played...

This is a great move and will spur serious growth and international competition in the financial sector which will then trickle down to the economy at large. Hope it will be implemented soon by 2014 should be running.

'Assistance' from Qataris and Saudis give me the heebie jeebies. Where's Malaysia, Turkey or even Indonesia when you need them? Sigh.

Anyway, as long as their interest is just business and not propagating their Wahabbist bullshyet, its all good. Fingers crossed lol.