The Meanings of Money in Tontines (ROSCAs) : The Case of the Bamileke of Cameroon

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  • 貨幣の意味を変える方法 : カメルーン、バミレケのトンチン(頼母子講)に関する考察
  • 貨幣の意味を変える方法--カメール、バミレケのトンチン(頼母子講)に関する考察
  • カヘイ ノ イミ オ カエル ホウホウ カメール バミレケ ノ トンチン タノモシコウ ニ カンスル コウサツ

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Abstract

<p>This paper examines a system of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) in terms of the polysemantic nature of money. The system is called a tontine (or cotisation) in Francophone Cameroon. Tontines appear in a variety of formes, but the basic pattern is that members of a group make monetary contributions at fixed intervals (once a week, once a month, etc.) and take turns receiving the total amount collected or a portion of it. Tontines are the most popular savings and loan method in Cameroon, especially among the Bamileke who are known as the "commercial people of Cameroon". The Bamileke ethnic group originated in the West Province of Cameroon, where the people are divided into over a hundred small chiefdoms that are stratified to a high degree. Even now the unity of a chiefdom is sometimes stronger than that of the Bamileke as a whole. Since the beginning of the 20th century many of the Bamileke have migrated and settled in big cities and plantation areas throughout the country. It is in the places where they have settled that their "Bamileke" identity is the strongest, and the capital Yaounde is one such place. It was primarily Yaounde that I carried out my fieldwork, but I also investigated a chiefdom in the Bamileke region. The Bamileke are numerous in the main cities of Cameroon in spite of being relatively recent arrivals there. They make up at least 30% of the population of Yaounde, and they are the majority in Douala, the largest city of Cameroon. Thus, we can say that they comprise an important part of Cameroonian urban economy and society. Some Bamileke entrepreneurs use banks, but they also continue to use tontines. Why is it that they like to use tontines, whether or not they are wealthy, and even when there are banks nearby? There is a serious negative reason: the instability of the formal banking system. But there are positive reasons as well. Many urban Bamileke organize tontines with people who came originally from the same chiefdom. It is said that in a big city like Yaounde all Bamileke chiefdoms have their own associations (I call them Home-Village Associations or HVAs). Subscription is voluntary, but many Bamileke belong to them. Meetings are usually once a week, on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The purpose of the HVAs is the mutual assistance of members. That is, tontines are not the main activity. For members, insurance (in the case of death of an HVA member or of a rlative of a member, a fixed amount of money is paid according to a rule) and participation in funeral sevices (members participate in the funeral services for deceased members of the same HVA) are the main activities of HVAs. But it is important to note that tontines are indispensable to HVAs. In many HVAs, to participate in a tontine is an obligation. This is because "no one would take coming to a meeting seriously if there were no tontine." Although people do not gather because of the tontine, they will not gather without it. The structure of tontines provides stability: you cannot stop once you start and you are obliged to pay your portion of the tontine. In any case, the tontine payment must somehow be made, because the money of a tontine never dies. However, the gathering of money and people is not the only raison de'etre of tontines. They also compel people to earn money. Generally, earning and saving money is viewed as an individulistic act. But the HVAs force Bamileke to earn money, by making them participate in tontines. The command "participate in the tontine!" is equivalent to "earn money (for the tontine)!" Conversely, we could say that tontines enable the legitimate accumulation of capital. In other words, those who participate in them can justify their "selfish" act of earning money by seeming to earn for the collective. Although Bamileke are sometimes criticized for depositing money into banks, they</p><p>(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)</p>

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