Department of African Studies

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Get rich through persistence: An iquiry into the Get rich through persistence: An iquiry into the prospects and challenges of savings and lendings groups among women in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
(University of Fort Hare, 2014) Dube, Thandeka Heather
Conventional wisdom holds that informal savings groups are simply a means in which the poor mobilise resources in times of economic distress and hardship. This research sought to explore whether informal savings groups can be salvaged as vehicles of economic development or they are indeed piecemeal activities engaged in by the poor in times of need. This study builds upon fieldwork conducted in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The study made use of qualitative research interviews with women from informal savings groups in Bulawayo. The interviews were transcribed and later analysed through content analysis. The research findings through comparative information gathered revealed that informal savings groups can be used to further economic development for the marginalised as these groups provide readily available capital to survivalist micro-enterprises. Informal savings groups provide an avenue for women’s empowerment. However the study noted that the potential of informal savings groups is tied to the wider institutional environment in which they are located.