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Formal financial systems are emerging rapidly in Africa, driven by rising financial literacy and technological innovation, and accelerated by informal savings groups that foster inclusive growth across the continent. While prevalent among the poor, the savings groups phenomenon extends to Africa’s growing, yet still fragile, middle class, underpinning economic resilience and providing a tool for community participation as well as cooperative entrepreneurial development. These groups are also becoming important agents for social and economic empowerment, independent of age and gender.
Transforming Africa: How Savings Groups Foster Financial Inclusion, Resilience and Economic Development gives voice to the local and international agents of grassroots economic empowerment initiatives that thrive in Africa. Presenting a unique through in-depth empirical research into savings group activities in over a dozen African countries, this book explores savings groups through the lens of financial inclusion, reflecting on formal finance, economic and social outcomes.
SG4Africa was launched in April 2018 to explore these dimensions of savings groups and provide novel, empirically-grounded research across different geographies in Africa. Led jointly by the Policy Experimentation; Evaluation Platform and the University of Johannesburg, the SG4Africa consortium includes members from more than a dozen African countries.
Dana T. Redford, Ph.D., is co-founder and international co-coordinator of the SG4Africa project. He is the Founder and President of the NGO PEEP – Policy Experimentation & Evaluation Platform and Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.
Grietjie Verhoef, Ph.D., is co-founder and international co-coordinator of the SG4Africa project and a Professor at the University of Johannesburg and Adjunct Professor, Monash University, Australia.
Introduction; Dana T. Redford and Grietjie Verhoef
Part 1. Conceptual chapters
Chapter 1. High-End and Mid-Market Savings Groups: A Pan-African Phenomenon; James Atta Peprah and Dana T. Redford
Chapter 2. The Role of INGOs in the Promotion of Saving Groups: Contribution by CARE International; George Muruka
Chapter 3. Exploring Leadership Competences in Informal Savings Groups in Sub-Saharan Africa; Lenora Biche and Christian Wolf
Chapter 4. Enhancing Women’s Empowerment through Savings Groups; Katherine Rickard
Part 2. Country Chapters
Chapter 5. Saving Groups in Burkina Faso; Sakola Djika Ali and Sako Siembou
Chapter 6. Savings Groups in Cameroon; Cyrille Bertrand Onomo and Raphaël Nkakleu
Chapter 7. Savings Groups in Cabo Verde; João António Furtado Brito
Chapter 8. Savings Groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Country Contribution; Deogratias Bugandwa Mungu Akonkwa, Eddy Balemba Kanyurhi, Guillaume Bidubula Juwa, and Albert Masheka Hongo
Chapter 9. Savings Groups in Urban Ethiopia; Konjit Hailu Gudeta, Atsede Tesfaye Hailemariam, and Bantie Workie Gessese
Chapter 10. Ghana: Susu, Village Savings and Loans, Credit Union, Rotating Savings System; Christopher Boachie and Eunice A. Adu-Darko
Chapter 11. Savings Groups in Guinea-Bissau; Ismael Mendes de Medina, Filipa Monteiro, and Ana Pinelas Pinto
Chapter 12. Savings Groups in Kenya: A Contextualised Literature Review on Savings Groups in Kenya; David Mathuva
Chapter 13. Mozambique; Graham Sherbut, Tiago Borges Coelho, and Eugénio Hélder E. Gujamo
Chapter 14. Savings Groups in Nigeria; Ogechi Adeola, Ifedapo Adeleye, Garzali Muhammed, Babalola Josiah Olajubu, Chijioke Oji, and Oserere Ibelegbu
Chapter 15. The Change Dynamics of Tontine in Senegal; Edoé Djimitri Agbodjan, Mawuli Couchoro, and Germain Lankoande
Chapter 16. Savings Groups in South Africa; Grietjie Verhoef and Karen Hidden
Chapter 17. Savings Groups in Uganda; Vincent Bagire and Sheila Namagembe