microfinance in Accra, Ghana

As a student in Program Evaluation in Developing Countries, taught by Professor Rema Hanna at NYU in Ghana, I was able to perform a two-day internship with the Microfinance and Community Development Organization (MFCDO) / Open Heart Solutions Agency.

The MFCDO’s self-stated goals are to “promote community development, poverty minimization, micro-enterprises, rural industries, and social entrepreneurship through microfinance services.” The MFCDO works toward these goals through two programs: Susu banking—a savings and loans program, and the support of community-based organizations at the Buduburam Refugee Camp—a Liberian refugee camp outside of Accra. Since Buduburam recently entered the resettlement process (to a refugee camp in Liberia), the MFCDO hopes to restructure its community development programs to target Ghanian women, utilizing the existing infrastructure that once served Liberian women.

Susu banking is a centuries-old banking system that offers savings and loan opportunities to micro-entrepreneurs—mainly roadside stall vendors and market traders—that do not have access to traditional banking systems. Typically, a Susu client will contribute a small amount of savings to his Susu collector at the end of the work day, and after one period, which is usually 31 days, the Susu collector returns 30 days of savings to the client, keeping 1 day’s savings as a banking fee.

The MFCDO operates its Susu banking arm out of the Kaneshie Market, Accra’s second-busiest market, concentrated in a five-story building that occupies several city blocks and extending to the surrounding streets. Twelve of the twenty Susu agents are stationed in booths, from which they accept payments from their specific clients and also make rounds to check on each client, at least one time per day. MFCDO clients save at rates between 50 pesewas (about 50 cents US) to a few Ghana cedis (one US dollar is worth slightly less that one Ghana cedi). The MFCDO has 7,000 clients in and around the Kaneshie market, a number that has grown rapidly since it’s beginning in 2003.