Actors from decentralized financial systems, consumer associations and ex-promoters took part this Friday, December 02, 2022 in an awareness workshop on illegal Adogbè-type public savings collection activities.
Nine (09) months after the prohibition of the activity of illegal collection of public savings in the form of tontine called “Adogbè”, the National Agency for the Surveillance of Decentralized Financial Systems (ANSSFD) organized an awareness workshop . According to Abdou Rafiou Bello, Director General of the ANSSFD, the workshop aims to take stock of the situation after the ban, to raise public awareness of the risks of a resurgence of this activity on the eve of the end of the year and finally to reflect on the formalization of the actors.
Many members of the “Adogbè” tontine have been victims of unscrupulous tontiniers. They disappear in nature with the deposits of savers. It is in this context that the Beninese government, in order to protect the populations, prohibited, through interministerial decree n°538 of March 04, 2022, this activity of illegal collection of savings. A study conducted reveals that the activity experienced a decline after the ban decision. The estimated amount of deposits collected increased from 8.5 billion FCFA in 2021 to 1.5 billion FCFA in 2022. The clientele increased from 1,717,135 in 2021 to 738,835 in 2022. Despite the ban, some Adogbè promoters continue this activity underground instead of complying with regulations through formalization.
Federate the actors
Proceeding to the opening of the workshop, the representative of the Minister of State in charge of Economy and Finance, underlined “the existence of a growing need of the populations for this type of operation which combines the granting of a financial service with the benefit of a tangible good”. “This workshop intends to unite all the actors of microfinance around the professionalization of the profession in a context marked by the reorganization of this sector”, declared Hermann Orou Takou, chief of staff of the Minister of State. He invited people to “more vigilance and to ensure that they only deposit their savings with institutions authorized by the Minister of State for the Economy and Finance”.
The president of the Patronage des Actors d’Aide de Proximité (bringing together the former promoters of the Adogbè tontine), Tiburce Konto was delighted with the holding of this awareness-raising workshop. “We basically need training. It’s not that ours are in bad faith. Many of us are innovating and bringing one more to the Beninese economy”, he asserted. The solutions adopted by the former developers since the decree was issued were presented to the participants. At the end of the workshop, the actors define a framework for formal cooperation between promoters, members and DFS.
Akpedje Ayosso
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December 2, 2022 by
