Community cooperative banks

TOBFC's Community Cooperative Banks Program enabled individuals to save their money, loan to one another and hopefully achieve a degree of financial security.

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Each Community Cooperative Bank is comprised of at least 15 members. Each such group determines whether its “fiscal period” will be 6 months, 9 months or 12 months. During the applicable period, members can save and invest through the group and receive loans from the group’s savings. At the end of the period, each member is returned that member’s savings plus the applicable percentage of dividends. The dividends are a result of the interest rates on loans given out by the individual “banks”. The program currently has 140 savings groups led by community members and a total of 2900 members, of whom the majority are vulnerable women. Participants in the Akiba! Nufaika!! program have used their savings to pay school fees for their children, farm without taking out loans, build homes, pay off medical bills, start new businesses, expand their existing businesses and support their families.