It was an advancement of the barter trading system which already had its challenges of sub-division.

The use of proto currencies such as cowrie shells (Cypraea Moneta), cloth, wire and beads in the hinterland began to form a key component of money for exchange during the early periods. The lack of common currency facilitated the growth of barter, with communities exchanging what they needed with what they already had in surplus. But, with no clear form of measuring how much a good was worth in exchange of another, the upper hand was left to the trader that was least in need. Various trade routes were born linking the different communities and creating new demand and supply chains for various products from the different regions. Clothes, ivory and beads were popular items of trade among East African communities. Goods from the coast and the Indian Ocean were exchanged for rice, millet and bananas for local consumption while rock crystal, ivory, and rhinoceros horn were shipped overseas. Through these special caravans, the exchange of ivory, salt and iron boomed. Trade caravans which came when the Arabs landed at the coastal towns of Kenya and Tanzania, created long distance trade channels for exchange. Close communities in Kenya exchanged pastoral and agricultural commodities.

The African economy as a whole, traded by exchange of goods and services under the Barter trade system. Barter trade was one of the primary forms of trade during these early periods. These items found in archaeological sites have helped historians and anthropologists to map out the early trade economies and identify the extent of contact between various communities. Various items have surfaced from archaeological findings that have shown a thriving trade culture existed in the past. Before the onset of the modern day currency, Kenya’s communities traded and exchanged goods and services, one to another or using intermediaries that had been accepted for trade.

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