the history of susu

According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, Susu collectors are one of the oldest financial groups in Africa. Based largely in Ghana they provide (for a small fee) an informal means for Ghanaians to securely save and access their own money, and gain limited access to credit, a form of microfinance. Money looked after for an individual by a Susu collector is held in a Susu account. A Susu collector can often be recognized by his distinctive coat of many pockets. The susu (savings) informal accounts used in the Caribbean and among West Indian immigrants to the United States is similar. They run their businesses from kiosks located in the market place and act as mobile bankers. Deposits, often of low but regular value, are usually taken on a daily basis over the course of a month. At the end of this period the susu collector returns the accumulated savings to the client but keeps one day's savings as commission. Susu collectors may also provide advances to their clients. Called esusu collectors in Nigeria, the 1990s saw significant growth in the number of clients per susu/esusu collector, and growth in the size of individual deposits, according to Aryeetey and Udry (1995).The term may originate from Yoruba, and thus may be linked to the arrival of Nigerian traders in Ghana, according to Aryeetey and Gockel. The word susu is also used in reference to rotating savings and credit associations in Ghana and the Caribbean. K. Little's 1957 article in American Anthropology, as well as the book Traditional Peoples of the World by National Geographic describes susu groups in this context. Both Aryeetey and Gockel (1991) and Little (1957) are cited by Ellen Bortei-Doku and Ernest Aryeetey in Chapter 5 of the 1995 edited volume, Money-Go-Rounds.[2] Susu collectors provide many Ghanaians who would otherwise be denied credit with access to money they need to start up small venture projects that in many cases benefit the community as a whole.