Historical Development of Money and Banking in Eritrea from the Axumite Kingdom to the Present

The development of money is an abstract of the history of civilization. Financial institutions encourage saving habit among the people by receiving deposits from the public in various forms. The Axumite kings were the first to mint coins in the African Continent. The aim of this paper is to explore the lessons learned from the different historical developments in the country and the region. The paper discusses the origin of banking system in Eritrea. It highlights the historical evolution and growth of money and banking in Eritrea during the Axumite, Italian, and the British, Ethiopian periods. It also provides the chronological development of money and banking from historical times to the post-independent Eritrea. It also deals with the existing banking institutions in the country. The paper makes an extensive use of related literature in enlightening the money and banking system in Eritrea during the historical period. It ends with summary and concluding remarks.