The official launching of Fonsdev Bumba’s activities took place on 14/11/2009, as part of the « project to strengthen the socio-economic capacity of the peasants of the territory of Bumba », financed by AECID / ALBOAN. Initially, more than 250 solidarity members mobilized solidarity savings of more than $ 5,000, thus constituting the social capital of their Fonsdev. This has allowed Fonsdev Bumba to start granting credits to those who need it.
The activity of tontine savings was launched in Bumba in January 2010. The work began with the feasibility study, the identification and awareness of neighborhoods with high economic activity that constitute areas of collection of savings tontine. The promoters were trained and they began to go to these identified areas to interest the sellers of the displays, the shops, the sellers of the empty bags, the shoemakers … to accept to join the tontine. As soon as the person has agreed to spare, the promoter goes to him daily to recover his bet. There it fills, signs or codifies the card following the putting of the member. She then handed the card to the owner (tontine member). It also fills in the payment slip, returns the slip to the Supervisor for verification and pays the collected amounts to the Fonsdev fund.
Before withdrawing the money saved at the end of the month, the member must bring his / her card with the supervisor. The supervisor receives from the promoter the list of members of the tontine savings for the month in question. It controls the bets of the card in relation to the amount that is in the slip. He looks at the card if the promoter has validated it by a mention, endorsed and signed the last square of the card presented. It compares the totals of the payment slips to the cash register and the end-of-month list to draw the difference if there is one and to harmonize with the promoter the list in relation to the vouchers. It is after all these checks that the supervisor pays and returns the card to the cashier. The credit union pays the amount to the investor and a daily deposit is retained by the fund. The paid card is kept in the caisse’s archives.
As of April 2010, the activity of tontine savings began to expand markedly by the increase in the number of members and promoters, as well as by the granting of tontine credits and the daily wage Of savers which currently fluctuates between 500 FC to 40.000FC, whereas it varied between 100 FC to 500 FC at the beginning.
To date, the Fonsdev Bumba has more than 1500 tontinier members who have saved more than $ 81,000. Fonsdev Bumba recruited 12 promoters (including 10 women) and a supervisor for supervision and daily follow-up of promoters, since tontine is a high-risk product. The Fonsdev Bumba has also granted tontine credits to more than 500 tontinier members for a value of more than $ 54,000.
Thanks to tontine savings, the culture of savings spread to the city of Bumba, and attendance at Fonsdev Bumba increased.
With access to tontine credits, the poorest people increase and diversify their income-generating activities and have the capacity to provide for their households.
