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Since 2007, Plan International in Tanzania has been promoting Savings Groups (SGs) apex organizations called Intermediating Associations (IMAs). The role of IMAs is to serve as depositories for SG excess funds, as a source of external capital for loans, and as a mechanism to insure the loans of their members. Besides these financial services, IMAs also contribute to the sustainability of their member SGs by providing oversight and technical assistance. In addition, many work with their member SGs to bring about community social and economic change through group-based farming, assisting orphans and vulnerable children, and other projects. There are currently 180 functioning IMAs in Tanzania that encompass 1,175 Savings Groups to reach over 29,000 individual members.

This webinar explored more deeply the attraction of IMAs, how they function, their range of financial and community activities, reasons for their success and continued spread and the challenges to their effectiveness.

This webinar was hosted by SEEP's Savings-Led Working Group.

Speakers

Beatrice Kiboma - Tujijenge IMA Chairperson, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Beatrice is 44 years old and is the Chairperson for Jijenge IMA in the Gongo la Mboto area of Dar Urban. She has been in her current position for almost one year. Beatrice is married with two children, a boy and a girl. In her family she lives with total number of six members including extended family. Her major source of income is business selling soft drinks and is also an agent for Tigopesa and Mpesa, two mobile money transfer services.

John Schiller - Global Advisor – Savings Groups, Plan International

John is Plan’s Global Advisor for Savings Groups, responsible for promoting the methodology throughout Plan’s 51 program countries and 20 national organizations. Prior to this role he worked for five years at Plan’s West Africa Regional Office overseeing implementation of the region’s microfinance strategy, which focused on wide dissemination and scale up of community-based microfinance models aimed primarily at poor rural women and youth. Before this he was Microfinance Coordinator for Plan International from 1995 to 2007. That position ran concurrent with three matching grants from USAID, whose purpose was to build Plan’s capacity to do high quality microfinance programming through partnerships with local MFIs and other microfinance promoters.

Stella Tungaraza - Microfinance Advisor, Plan Tanzania

Stella is one of the most senior microfinance Advisors in Plan’s East & Southern Africa Region. Since 2004 she has promoted the spread of SGs across both Plan African regions by organizing learning events on Savings Groups in 2005 and IMAs in 2013. An expert in the field of community-managed microfinance with 18 years’ experience, she researched and pioneered apex organizations for savings groups known as Intermediating Associations (IMAs) to enhance the quality of services to SGs and promote sustainability. She designed and is implementing several SG programs that have integration with other income generation and social activities including youth employment, sanitation and hygiene and maternal and child health in 7 regions across Tanzania. The largest project she has facilitated is the Banking on Change Project (BoC), a global partnership between Plan, Care and Barclays (2009 – 2015)