The Loan Shark and the Angel Yovo
Despite having only one sister my mum always says that in my nuclear family we are five: mum, dad, sister, a municipal policeman and myself. My dad has paid so many parking fines that according to her the policeman is number 5 in the family.
In our Beninese life we have a large extended family. I know some young and overpaid yovos (whites) who share (a micro) part of their fat salaries with their new extended Beninese family: gardeners, guardians, cooks, babysitters…. I have also heard about other yobos who prefer not to buy a washing machine and have their maids wash bed sheets by hand: isn’t this the housekeeping form of neocolonialism?
I mostly know only good yovos though: those who lend money to cooks who want to start a street restaurant (maki), a photocophy business, those who pay for the school books of their cook’s daughter or the medicines for their guardians. The list of needs is really long and sometimes quite difficult to believe (Whaatt? Didn’t you say you only have 2 daughters?). I asked one of the good yovos whether he thinks he will get his money back at some point: “If I do not get it back, the credit line is over”. The acceptance of loss almost transforms these yovo credits into donations. “I prefer not to ask them in what do they spend the money, like this they do not have to lie”.
His comment made me think about microcredits: the formal ones, the ones given by microfinance institutions. I fantasized thinking about a new division: the loan shark and the angel yobo. The angel yovo is distorting the MFI market! I also felt his comment resonates with MFIs practices largely: BASIX or the IFMR Trust have decided not to ask clients the purpose of the loan. Field practice shows that when an MFI asks a client to give explanations about where he or she is going to spend the loan, most clients lie or misinform the MFI, breaching the very important trust relationship between the loan giver and loan receiver. Not a good way to start a contract.
In our Beninese life we have a large extended family. I know some young and overpaid yovos (whites) who share (a micro) part of their fat salaries with their new extended Beninese family: gardeners, guardians, cooks, babysitters…. I have also heard about other yobos who prefer not to buy a washing machine and have their maids wash bed sheets by hand: isn’t this the housekeeping form of neocolonialism?
I mostly know only good yovos though: those who lend money to cooks who want to start a street restaurant (maki), a photocophy business, those who pay for the school books of their cook’s daughter or the medicines for their guardians. The list of needs is really long and sometimes quite difficult to believe (Whaatt? Didn’t you say you only have 2 daughters?). I asked one of the good yovos whether he thinks he will get his money back at some point: “If I do not get it back, the credit line is over”. The acceptance of loss almost transforms these yovo credits into donations. “I prefer not to ask them in what do they spend the money, like this they do not have to lie”.
His comment made me think about microcredits: the formal ones, the ones given by microfinance institutions. I fantasized thinking about a new division: the loan shark and the angel yobo. The angel yovo is distorting the MFI market! I also felt his comment resonates with MFIs practices largely: BASIX or the IFMR Trust have decided not to ask clients the purpose of the loan. Field practice shows that when an MFI asks a client to give explanations about where he or she is going to spend the loan, most clients lie or misinform the MFI, breaching the very important trust relationship between the loan giver and loan receiver. Not a good way to start a contract.
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