East African Monetary Integration and Central Banking Dataset, 1964–1966
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This dataset compiles systematically extracted information from archival records of the Bank of England, the East African Currency Board (EACB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), finance ministries, and emerging central banking institutions in East Africa concerning the transformation of the regional monetary system between approximately 1964 and 1966. The dataset documents the gradual dissolution of the East African Currency Area and the establishment of national central banks in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania during the early post-independence period.
The material derives primarily from confidential correspondence, internal memoranda, technical reports, draft legislation, economic press coverage, and administrative records related to the creation of the Bank of Tanzania, Bank of Uganda, and Central Bank of Kenya. The documents provide detailed evidence on debates surrounding monetary sovereignty, regional integration, exchange controls, reserve requirements, credit regulation, currency convertibility, capital movements, and banking supervision in the postcolonial context.
The database is organised into multiple thematic sheets combining both quantitative and qualitative variables. These include monetary integration events, central banking proposals, political and financial risk assessments, exchange control measures, reserve requirement policies, institutional design, relations with commercial banks, and mechanisms of regional coordination. Each entry corresponds to a verifiable observation linked to a specific archival source, allowing for archival traceability and replicability.
The dataset demonstrates how postcolonial monetary transition in East Africa was shaped by tensions between national sovereignty and regional cooperation, while also revealing the continued influence of British financial expertise and IMF technical advice in the design of new African monetary institutions. It further documents recurring concerns regarding capital flight, monetary stability, intergovernmental coordination, and the technical capacity of newly established central banks.
This database was developed as part of a broader research project on the history of banking and monetary systems in East Africa and constitutes a valuable resource for research on African economic history, financial decolonisation, regional integration, monetary history, central banking, and the relationship between postcolonial states and international financial institutions.
The dataset was constructed through systematic archival extraction and qualitative coding of primary source material produced by the Bank of England, the East African Currency Board (EACB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), East African finance ministries, and related monetary authorities between approximately 1964 and 1966. The material consists primarily of confidential correspondence, technical memoranda, draft legislation, policy discussions, financial reports, and administrative records concerning the dissolution of the East African Currency Area and the establishment of national central banking systems in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Information was manually extracted and standardised into structured tabular datasets combining quantitative variables (dates, institutional measures, reserve requirements, exchange control proposals, monetary instruments) and qualitative coded variables (political risk assessments, attitudes towards regional integration, perceptions of financial stability, institutional preferences, and policy positions). Each observation was linked to a specific archival source and document reference in order to ensure traceability, transparency, and replicability. The coding process prioritised verifiable documentary evidence and avoided interpretative reconstruction where documentary confirmation was absent.
The dataset is provided in spreadsheet format (.xlsx) and organised into multiple thematic sheets covering monetary integration events, central banking proposals, political and financial risk assessments, exchange control measures, reserve requirement policies, and institutional reforms. Each record represents a discrete documentary observation extracted from archival sources and includes standardised variables such as date, actor, country, policy issue, institutional position, risk level, proposed solution, and source reference. Variables were harmonised to ensure consistency across documents originating from different institutions and jurisdictions. Qualitative variables were coded using controlled categorical classifications where possible (e.g. levels of political risk, support for regional integration, institutional stance), while preserving the wording and terminology of the original archival material in notes and descriptive fields. The dataset was designed to facilitate both qualitative historical analysis and quantitative examination of institutional trends, policy evolution, and regional monetary fragmentation in East Africa during the mid-1960s.