African Currencies

East Africa Currencies

East Africa is home to more separate currencies than any other African region — 14 in total, spanning the mainland shilling economies (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda), the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia), the Great Lakes states (Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan), and the Indian Ocean islands (Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros). The region shows the continent's widest range of currency arrangements: Djibouti has held one of the world's longest-running fixed pegs to the US dollar since 1949, Somalia's economy has become heavily dollarized after decades of conflict, and Madagascar's ariary is one of only two non-decimal currencies left in the world.

East Africa Currency Comparison

The push for an East African shilling

Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan make up the East African Community (EAC), which has a long-standing but still unrealized goal of launching a single East African shilling to replace their national currencies, modeled loosely on the eurozone. A monetary union protocol was signed in 2013 with a target date that has since been repeatedly pushed back, and as of 2026 each EAC member continues to issue its own currency while working toward the deeper fiscal and monetary policy convergence the union would require.

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