Imperial money and the making of currency hierarchies : evidence from Nigeria

Title data

Coburger, Carla:
Imperial money and the making of currency hierarchies : evidence from Nigeria.
In: Review of International Political Economy. Vol. 33 (2026) Issue 1 . - pp. 98-130.
ISSN 1466-4526
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2025.2542204

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Abstract in another language

The contemporary currency hierarchy is neither natural nor neutral: It’s an imperial construct. This paper traces the origins of today’s currency hierarchy back to the violent imposition of imperial money. Through a longue durée analysis of Nigeria (1861–1960), this paper demonstrates how British imperialism dismantled pre-colonial monetary plurality and imposed Sterling, institutionalised in 1912 via the West African Currency Board (WACB), an institution requiring 100% Sterling reserves. Archival evidence reveals three mechanisms to establish imperial money: (1) legal demonetisation of pre-colonial currencies; (2) overvalued Sterling distorting domestic prices; (3) tax collection and wage payment. These processes restructured labour and production across the colonised regions, birthing a disarticulated economy, where Nigeria exported raw materials and cash-cropss but relied on imports for basic needs - a template replicated globally then and now. Key findings include first, how imperial money’s monopoly relied on violent demonetization; second, the WACB’s reserves prefigured modern foreign exchange traps; and last, people have continuously resisted to preserve monetary sovereignty. By reframing currency hierarchies as products of imperial extraction, the study challenges IPE’s presentist focus and charts a path for decolonial monetary alternatives.