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The Black Social Economy in the Americas pp 79–95Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Building Economic Solidarity: Caribbean ROSCAs in Jamaica, Guyana, and Haiti

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Abstract

Caribbean women create rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) to take care of the need of their communities when commercial banks and formalized financial alternatives fail to do so. Informal banking collectives are important because they are inclusive, locally driven institutions to meet the livelihood needs of people, particularly women. In this chapter, it shows the various ways that the Black women participate in the social economy through self-managed groups, called ROSCAs. This chapter examines five country cases in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Guyana, and Haiti to show how ROSCAs not only build savings, community relations but also enable people to access large lump sums of cash to invest in their businesses. The Banker ladies are upholding ancient African traditions of collectivity to increase savings and to allow for lending opportunities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Informal banks and money pools are also referred to as rotating credit and savings associations (ROSCAs) and they are institutions that are owned by local people (Rutherford 2000).

  2. 2.

    Stakeholders include bankers, civil society experts, community activists, microfinance practitioners, policy experts, and academics.

  3. 3.

    Micro business people referred to themselves as “hustler” as an informal vendor and “higgler” as a specific form of retailing. Both hustlers and higglers were interviewed in this study.

  4. 4.

    Middle-class Jamaicans also belong to partner banks.

  5. 5.

    Handa and Kirton (1999) surveyed one thousand people in Kingston, and found that 75% of the people in partner were Black women between the ages of 26 and 35; and most clients used partner for an average of nine years.

  6. 6.

    Penny Bank is an organized saving plan usually run by a religious entity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Caroline Shenaz Hossein

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  1. Caroline Shenaz Hossein
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  1. York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Caroline Shenaz Hossein

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Hossein, C.S. (2018). Building Economic Solidarity: Caribbean ROSCAs in Jamaica, Guyana, and Haiti. In: Hossein, C. (eds) The Black Social Economy in the Americas. Perspectives from Social Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60047-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60047-9_5

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