UPDATE Sunday, March 3: The East African Community on Monday, March 4, clarified that the community was yet to launch the common currency.
"The EAC Secretariat wishes to inform all our stakeholders that the Partner States' journey to a single currency is still a work in progress," EAC stated adding that there was no immediate plan to roll out new banknotes in the region.
The plan for East African countries to start using a common currency valued higher than any legal tender from member states is still on, but the rollout is not imminent.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, a verified X handle, purportedly an authority on bloc matters, claimed that East African countries had officially launched a common currency which was going to be rolled out in due course.
The handle claimed that the currency, called the East African Sheafra (SHF1) will be equivalent to Ksh760.
"The East African Sheafra (SHF1 Sheafra) is valued at 0.76 cents on the Dollar, almost a Dollar; Tsh2800 (Tanzania Shillings), Ksh760 (Kenya Shillings), RFr.1,230 (Rwanda Franc), USh3,400 (Uganda Shillings), BF.3,103 (Burundi Franc)," claimed the account.
Immediately after the announcement, a section of sceptics questioned the value of the Sheafra, arguing that its performance against different currencies was mismatched.
Some complained that the currency ratios did not match arguing that if SHF1 is equivalent to US$0.76, it should then be valued at Ksh109 judging by the Kenyan Shilling's current performance against the Dollar.
Others, however, praised the move noting that it will ease business transactions around the East African countries and boost the value of some currencies that had been affected immensely by the performance of the Dollar.
"Maybe this will save us from the volatile Shilling," stated an online user. The Shilling is now trading at Ksh144 against the Dollar, a drop from a high of Ksh160.
The East African Community (EAC), however, maintained that it had not rolled out the new currency explaining that the process was still in the works.
"The EAC Secretariat wishes to inform all our stakeholders that the Partner States' journey to a single currency is still a work in progress," EAC stated via its Jumuiya account.
The Fake Denominations
The fake account had released the SHF5 denomination consisting of the insignia ‘The East African Sheafra’ written in capital letters and with a magnetic strip and two watermarks bearing the East African Logo as well as the currency initials - SHF.
The SHF5 note also contained earthy colours with a hue of light brown to dark brown. The SHF200, which is the highest in the denomination, bears different shades of green colour.
SHF10, on the other hand, has hues of colours ranging from maroon to brown while SHF20 note contains colours black, brown and light blue.
SHF50 features colours grey and light green while SHF100 features colours grey and yellow. All the notes will carry a signature from the Bank of East Africa's governor and secretary.
