BANK OF BIAFRA
Bank of Biafra (Central
Bank)
10 January 1968 / 08 January 1970
Headquarters Enugu, Biafra, later Aba, Umuahia, and Owerri, Biafra
(Biafra transferred its capital several times to avoid capture by advancing
Nigerian forces)
An early institution created by the Biafran
government was the Bank of Biafra, accomplished under ‘Decree No. 3 of
1967'.
The bank carried out all central banking functions including the
administration of foreign exchange and the management of the public debt of
the Republic. The bank was administered by a governor and four directors;
the first governor, per the signature on bank notes, was Sylvester U. Ugoh.
A second decree, ‘Decree No.4 of 1967’, modified the Banking Act of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria for the Republic of Biafra.
The bank was first located in Enugu, but due to the ongoing war, the bank
was relocated several times. Biafra attempted to finance the war through
foreign exchange. After Nigeria announced their currency would no longer be
legal tender (to make way for a new currency), this effort increased. After
the announcement, tons of Nigerian bank notes were transported in an effort
to acquire foreign exchange.
The currency of Biafra had been the Nigerian pound, until the Bank of Biafra
started printing out its own notes, the Biafran pound. The new currency went
public on 28 January 1968, and the Nigerian pound was not accepted as an
exchange unit.
The first issue of the bank notes included only 5 shillings notes and 1
pound notes. The Bank of Nigeria exchanged only 30 pounds for an individual
and 300 pounds for enterprises in the second half of 1968.
In 1969 new notes were introduced: £10, £5, £1, 10/- and 5/-.
It is estimated that a total of £115-140 million Biafran pounds were in
circulation by the end of the conflict, with a population of about 14
million, approximately £10 per person.