East African Monetary Integration and Central Banking Dataset, 1964–1966

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.