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Goulfey, North Cameroon

Solidarity and transparency

The help of the students at MNG Zurich has arrived in Goulfey. Their savings bank has already saved many families from despair and poverty.

What a difference: Whereas in the past usurers had charged up to 300% interest, families now pay 7% at their local savings bank. A group of students at the High School of Science and Mathematics in Zurich had planned this project during the corona period and had also found ways to finance it (see the article in the newsletter of July 2022). And the IPA partner in Cameroon realised it. The renovation of the already existing building was the easiest part. An executive committee was elected and trained. Everything had to be bought: from ballpoint pens to two motorbikes which are used to visit and coach customers. Rules, regulations and internal documents were compiled and sent to the authorities to be licensed. Their approval arrived surprisingly quickly and unbureaucratically. At the moment the small bank has a trading area of roughly ten thousand people – an enormous task to run an information campaign. Under trees and in the shade of walls the population of Goulfey was informed. The impoverished families in the far north of Cameroon were thrilled by what they heard. After only a short time 190 women and men had registered as members of the bank. They spent their last Francs to pay the fees.

Adapting to local conditions

Today they are the proud owners of a small shop, they cultivate a plot of land, or they have raised cattle. During its first year of business the small bank has issued credits worth 19.5 million FCFA (almost 30,000 Swiss Francs). The terms usually vary between five and seven months at a monthly interest rate of 0.5833%. These are fair conditions - you can not do better.

The savings bank operates successfully and has already been able to absorb a calamity. At the end of the last rainy season huge water masses which had originated in Central Africa flooded the whole region. For three months Goulfey and its surroundings were completely isolated. Farmers suffered as much as tradesmen. Nevertheless 126 out of 145 borrowers were able to pay their credits back on time. This was made possible by the good guidance of the bank management and the organisation of its members. They are split up into eight sub-groups each of which has its own management. All the members meet once a week, they help each other and also send their deputies to the regular meetings at the head office of the bank. So they are all in close contact with "their" bank, solidarity and transparency are guaranteed. "This adaptation to local conditions has led to a big success", the local partner in Goulfey said. Thanks to the students in Zurich a sound, well-established savings bank has been founded. And with the surplus of the money they collected it will be even enlarged in the future.

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