The ROSCA Network
Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) are a unique financial model long celebrated for their ability to empower individuals to build financial confidence. Often operating in regions of the Black diaspora, these community-driven financial co-operative initiatives are practiced by people around the world and can be referred to by many different names.
Who are The Banker Ladies?
Established in 2020, the Banker Ladies Council (BLC) is made up of a group of Black women educating and advocating for the role that ROSCAs play among diasporic communities as a pathway to financial independence.
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Their goal is to educate members of the public on their rights as co-operators through leading capacity-building training of informal institutions and advocacy for the ROSCAs in the Canadian financial sector. The Council also advances co-operative economics and works to end the erasure and harms encountered by ROSCA users across the country, while advocating for financial systems for Black women who organize co-operative banks in the community.
What is The ROSCA Network?
The Banker Ladies Council is embarking on building a ROSCA system in Canada by developing The ROSCA Network; a co-operative that offers education, training, and advocacy services to its ROSCA practitioners across the country. More importantly, the Network will give legitimacy to women who have been using this type of informal banking as a form of savings.
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The co-operative's objective is to recognize and legitimize the role ROSCAs play in the economy, as money saved using this type of system has been used to stimulate the economy through the purchase of homes, starting businesses, and funding education.
There are many ROSCA groups in Toronto (and Canada more broadly) among the Black population, as well as other racialized groups including men using ROSCAs. The ROSCA Network will support and protect the rights of ROSCA users in Canada, work to address the unique challenges they face, raise awareness about this business model for saving money, and enable users to connect with other ROSCA users across the country.
OCA is supporting the project by providing vital back-end administrative services to facilitate the ROSCA Network's initiatives.
For more information, please contact Andria Barrett at the Banker Ladies Council/ROSCA Network
Call
519-763-8271 x. 32