Savings Groups National Stakeholder Meeting

The document details a February 2017 stakeholder meeting in Cotonou, Benin, focused on the role of Savings Groups (SGs) in promoting development. It highlights how SGs act as platforms for agricultural training and value chain participation, health financing and education, and as gateways to formal financial services. The report identifies challenges such as market access for agricultural products and a tension between the need for formal regulation and the value of informal learning processes. It concludes with priorities for the sector, including the creation of a national SG working group and a national mapping of SGs.

• Savings Groups in Benin have reached over 150,000 members through the promotion of international NGOs including CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Plan International, and Freedom from Hunger.
• In the agricultural sector, SGs enable women farmers to participate more effectively in the cassava value chain through capital access and training in production, storage, and processing into high-quality gari. However, market access remains a primary challenge due to corruption, travel risks, currency fluctuations, and certification requirements, particularly in the Nigerian market.
• A health pilot program by Freedom from Hunger has seen over 16,000 members saving an average of 100 CFA (approximately $0.16) per week in health funds as of June 2015, with over 2,000 health loans disbursed at an average size of $8.70.
• SGs are increasingly acting as gateways to formal finance through partnerships with microfinance institutions like ALIDE and the Alafia consortium, as well as the e-money issuer CARMES to enable digital transactions.
• There is a strategic tension regarding the formalization of SGs: while the Central Bank seeks to bring them under a regulatory umbrella, NGOs argue that SGs require a learning process as informal groups before they can be formalized.
• The meeting identified five key priorities for future action: establishing a national SG working group, creating a national map of SGs, increasing investment in digital delivery for rural populations, integrating financial education for women and youth, and advocating for the inclusion of SGs in West African financial strategies.

APA

FSD Africa (2017). Savings Groups National Stakeholder Meeting. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Savings-Groups-National-Stakeholder-Meeting.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. Savings Groups National Stakeholder Meeting. 2017. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Savings-Groups-National-Stakeholder-Meeting.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=Savings Groups National Stakeholder Meeting |date=2017 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Savings-Groups-National-Stakeholder-Meeting.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafrica2017savings, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{Savings Groups National Stakeholder Meeting}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2017}, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Savings-Groups-National-Stakeholder-Meeting.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }