East Africa’s Moneychanger States in Kevin Donovan’s Money, Value, and the State

This book forum brings together leading scholars of African monetary history to critically engage with Kevin P. Donovan’s Money, Value, and the State: Sovereignty and Citizenship in East Africa (2024). Introduced by Tinashe Nyamunda, the forum includes an opening reflection by Donovan, six commentaries by Parker Shipton, Deborah James, Karin Pallaver, Mariusz Lukasiewicz, Toby Green, and Jeremy L. Jones, and a concluding response from the author. The contributions examine the relationship between money, sovereignty, citizenship, and state formation in postcolonial Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Particular attention is devoted to Donovan’s concept of the “moneychanger state”, which describes how governments sought to control monetary circulation, foreign exchange, and the production of economic value while remaining dependent on international currency hierarchies. The forum explores the establishment of national currencies and central banks, the nationalization of financial institutions, the regulation of credit and savings, and the tensions between state monetary policies and everyday economic practices, including cross-border trade and smuggling. Drawing on historical, anthropological, and political-economic perspectives, the contributors situate Donovan’s arguments within longer histories of African monetary systems, colonial legacies, and global financial inequalities. They also consider the relationship between economic citizenship and competing understandings of value, the limitations of monetary sovereignty, and the importance of local practices in challenging state authority. Collectively, the forum highlights money as a central instrument of political power and social negotiation in modern African history.