The Eritrean nakfa
Currency · ERN · 1 country
Eritrea swapped the birr for the nakfa at par in November 1997, six years after its independence, and named the new money after Nakfa, the town where the independence war won its first major victory. The Bank of Eritrea issues it apart from the Ministry of Finance. On 1 January 2016 the bank stopped recognising every older note.
No sign of its own
The nakfa has no sign of its own. Amounts are written with the code ERN or the abbreviation Nfk, which the Eritrean embassy in Switzerland gives alongside the code, and the name itself is written ናቕፋ in Tigrinya.
- ISO code
- ERN
- ISO number
- 232
- Subunit
- cent, 1/100
An amount, written out
ERN 1,234.50
- ERN 1,234.50English
- ١٬٢٣٤٫٥٠ NfkArabicEritrea
Where the Eritrean nakfa is the official currency
Eritrea is the one country listed. The Bank of Eritrea keeps the nakfa pegged to the US dollar and not fully convertible, and street trading in dollars is not allowed.
About the Eritrean nakfa
Why a mountain town gave the money its name
Nakfa sits in the Sahel mountains. During the war against Ethiopian rule it served as the headquarters of the EPLF, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, and it was the site of the first major victory of the Eritrean War of Independence. The town became a symbol of independence, and the currency took the symbol over.
The nakfa replaced the birr one for one in November 1997, and the country's embassy in Switzerland dates it to the 8th. It is written ናቕፋ in Tigrinya and ناكفا in Arabic.
Who issues the nakfa and what holds its value
The Bank of Eritrea issues the currency, and the embassy describes the bank as working independently of the Ministry of Finance. The nakfa is pegged to the US dollar. As of January 2025 the official rate stood at 15 nakfa to the dollar.
The government has refused calls to let the currency float and has preferred a fixed rate, adjusted now and then by devaluation. The nakfa is not fully convertible. A street market for dollars exists in Asmara and some other towns, and trading there is not allowed.
How the bank cancelled the old notes
Between 18 November and 31 December 2015 the Bank of Eritrea replaced every nakfa note in circulation. The swap ran one for one and left the value of the currency where it was. On 1 January 2016 the old notes lost their standing as legal tender.
The plan was kept secret until it began. Its targets were counterfeiting, the informal economy and, above all, Sudanese people smugglers who had taken payment in nakfa from migrants heading for Europe. Large hoards of Eritrean notes had built up outside the country. The secrecy was meant to stop their owners bringing them back in time to exchange. The new notes carry the issue date 24 May 2015, Eritrea's Independence Day.
What the notes and coins show
Clarence Holbert of the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing designed the notes in 1994, and Giesecke & Devrient of Germany prints them. The fronts show ordinary people from the nine principal ethnic groups, the Tigrinya, Tigre, Rashaida, Nara, Afar, Saho, Bilen, Beja and Kunama, and no political or historical figure. The backs carry scenes of daily work and places: a bush school from the years before liberation, cattle under a giant sycamore near Segeneiti, freighters at Massawa, oxen ploughing a field. Notes run from one nakfa to 100.
The coins go from 1 cent to 100 cents, which is how the one nakfa coin is marked. All are nickel-clad steel. Each denomination has its own reeded edge instead of one pattern shared by all, so the coins differ at the rim as well as the face. An animal native to Eritrea fills the front of each: an ibex on the 1 cent, a leopard on the 5, an ostrich on the 10, a Grevy's zebra on the 25, a gazelle on the 50 and an elephant on the 100. The common reverse shows fighters raising the flag, the date 1991 and the legend "Liberty, Equality and Justice".
Common questions
Questions about the Eritrean nakfa
What is the nakfa named after?
The town of Nakfa, in the Sahel mountains. It served as the headquarters of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front during the armed struggle against Ethiopian rule and was the site of the first major victory of the Eritrean War of Independence, so the name ties the money to that war.
Why did Eritrea change all its banknotes in 2015?
The Bank of Eritrea replaced every note between 18 November and 31 December 2015 at one for one, so nobody's balance changed. The aim was to make worthless the large amounts of nakfa held outside the formal economy, used for counterfeiting, black market exchange, contraband and human smuggling. Sudanese smugglers had taken payment in nakfa from migrants bound for Europe and built up hoards abroad. The plan stayed secret so that they could not bring the cash back in time. From 1 January 2016 the old notes were no longer legal tender, and they now have only collector value.
Is the nakfa pegged to the US dollar?
Yes. The official rate was fixed at 15 nakfa to one US dollar as of January 2025. The government has resisted calls to float the currency and has devalued it from time to time instead. The nakfa is not fully convertible.
Who designed the nakfa banknotes?
Clarence Holbert, a banknote designer at the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, drew them in 1994, and the German firm Giesecke & Devrient prints them. He put ordinary Eritreans from the nine principal ethnic groups on the fronts rather than any leader or historical figure.