The East African Community (EAC) yesterday dismissed the existence of a new currency for the region following a fake account on X falsely claiming to have unveiled it.
On Monday, March 4, the EAC Secretariat announced that the process of achieving a single currency was still underway, urging the public to disregard any rumors circulating on social media.
The fake account, which sported a grey checkmark indicating government or multilateral organization status, posted an image of a 5 SHEAFRA note on Saturday, stating, “The East African Sheafra of SHF.5 Currency Note of fuv5 has finally Landed.”
The account asserted that the currency would enhance the regional economy and claimed that one SHEAFRA would be valued at $0.76.
However, the EAC Secretariat clarified that there was no such currency and disassociated the account from any affiliation with the regional bloc.
“The EAC Secretariat wishes to inform all our stakeholders that the Partner States’ journey to a single currency is still a work in progress. Kindly ignore any rumours circulating in social media on the unveiling of new banknotes for the region,” the EAC said in a statement on Twitter.
The EAC partner states are harmonizing key policies and establishing necessary institutions to realize a single currency for the region by 2024, in accordance with the EAC Monetary Union Protocol.
As per the protocol, the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI) was expected to be established by 2022, evolving into the East African Central Bank, which would be responsible for issuing a single currency.
The primary advantages of a monetary union include reduced transaction costs, savings in international reserves, elimination of exchange rate risk, and region-wide price harmonization.
