Kenya Hires German Firm To Print Banknotes

Kenya Central Bank Governor Kamau Thugge said Kenya hired a German money printing firm to replace De La Rue, who exited in 2023 due to a low market.

Thugge revealed this decision during a post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Wednesday, emphasising that the German firm (name undisclosed) was chosen after a meticulous selection process and is considered among the industry’s top firms.

Thugge further disclosed that in compliance with Article 231 (2) of the Constitution of Kenya and Section 22 (2) of the Central Bank of Kenya Act, significant changes have been made to the Kenyan currency notes.

It’s a normal process of the Central Bank. The notes that we have are getting old, and we need to get new notes,” he said.

He added that the changes would affect all the notes, including the Ksh—1000 notes, as they will be the first to be phased out, while other denominations will progressively follow in the coming months.

There could be a stock out in those notes (Ksh.1,000), so it was really necessary that we get new notes as quickly as possible,” he said.

The Central Bank of Kenya has maintained that the new version of currency notes will have a distinct texture, such as the word “Kenya,” the “1000” digits and the note’s edge will have a defined touch.

The changes affect the fifty shillings (KES 50), one hundred shillings (KES 100), two hundred shillings (KES 200), five hundred shillings (KES 500) and one thousand shillings (KES 1,000) currency banknotes,” says Kenya’s Central Bank.

According to CBK, the banknotes would bear the signature of the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Dr Kamau Thugge, the signature of the Principal Secretary, National Treasury, Dr Chris Kiptoo, the year of print – 2024, and new security threads with colour changing effects that are specific to each denomination.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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