27th August 2005, Accra
Our groundbreaking microbanking scheme turns a traditional Ghanaian money collector into a venture capitalist.
From its first day of trading, Barclays has always worked to the same basic principle of making its customers’ money work for them. And when Financial Inclusion Manager Will Derban turned his attentions to one of Africa’s oldest forms of banking, he applied modern finance to do just that.
With only 4% of the African population having access to a bank account, Susu collection is the best alternative to traditional banking. Working closely with local communities, Barclays used Will’s insight to provide valuable financial management training to over 120 Ghanaian Susu collectors and give basic financial awareness training to 250 of their clients.
By applying the foundations of Microbanking and with the financial backing of Barclays, some 500,000 Ghanaian market traders have been given a stable way of meeting their financial needs. £50,000 worth of business loans has also been given out.
In just a year and a half, all the loans were repaid and the familiar faces of the Susu collectors were putting their training to good use. So, Barclays has extended its coverage from two to six major cities across Ghana, also providing a multi-million pound business stream.
