WALTER RODNEY SEMINAR: The Enduring and Versatile ROSCAs (Rotating Savings and Credit Association) (Daivi Rodima-Taylor)

Join us online (zoom) or in-person (232 Bay State Rd, Boston, MA 02215) in Room 505 for our Walter Rodney Seminar Series! Informal savings groups are prevalent in many regions of the Global South. In various African societies, these voluntary associations have deep historical roots, initially emerging to facilitate the sharing of agricultural labor. The groups with their rotating credit arrangements remain popular also among many diaspora communities worldwide. My presentation explores the historical evolution and contemporary resurgence of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) in several East and Southern African countries. It examines the increasingly complex ways these indigenous savings groups interact with formal financial institutions and financial technology platforms. These mutual support groups have also influenced the microfinance industry, though with mixed and sometimes negative outcomes. At the same time, they prompt new discussions about alternative community-based economies that can support marginalized groups, even in societies with highly formalized financial sectors, potentially leading to innovative forms of solidarity economies.