Paper long abstract

Research on social protection in the informal economy has largely prioritised state-led interventions or material support mechanisms, often overlooking everyday financial practices through which informal workers organise security and manage risk. In Ghana, susu, a rotating savings and credit arrangement remains a central but under-theorised institution within informal markets.

Using a qualitative methodology, this study draws on in-depth interviews with 55 food traders to examine the moral economy underpinning susu practices at the Madina Market in Accra, Ghana. It analyses how these arrangements function as informal systems of collective risk pooling and social protection, exploring traders’ accounts of participation in susu, obligations of contribution, enforcement mechanisms, and meanings attached to trust, reciprocity, and discipline.

The findings reveal that susu operates as a robust social safety net governed by disciplined reciprocity, providing essential social protection for participants. There are primarily two typologies of susu, playing complementary roles. The Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA), a group-based model where members periodically contribute to a common pool distributed in rotation while the individual or personal susu, more prevalent among traders, involves a one-on-one relationship with a susu collector.

Beyond its financial function, susu is embedded in a moral economy shaped by trust, reputation, and shared responsibility, offering predictability and assurance in contexts marked by income volatility and limited formal protection. The study contributes to social protection theory by foregrounding informal finance as a moral-economic institution, calling for a greater analytical attention to collective, trust-based mechanisms in understanding protection beyond formal insurance models.

Paper short abstract

The paper assesses the effect of financial inclusion policies on women and finds that, though financial inclusion initiatives promise greater integration, government-endorsed capitalist systems ultimately force women to participate in a deficient financial cycle.

Paper long abstract

Financial inclusion has been touted as a means to integrate women into the financial economy, providing credit and other relevant financial products to support their businesses. In reality, it brings the unbanked population into government regulation and stealthily into taxation regimes. The government of Ghana, aware of gains to be made, implemented several measures to rope the vulnerable, usually women, into the finance sector. From liberalisation of the banking sector in the early eighties, through the introduction of a Microfinance Policy in 2006, to a Digital Financial Services Inclusion Policy in 2020, support to the vulnerable has evolved. This paper draws on relevant policies and in-depth interviews with females, males and young people in Ashanti, Western and Northern Regions of Ghana, to examine the effects of the government’s financial inclusion on women. Foucault’s concept of governmentality illustrates how the state sustains market-driven rationalities that compel individuals to assume responsibility for their own economic well-being. Similarly, I argue that despite the existence of a financial inclusion policy, the government has effectively shifted responsibility for women’s financial empowerment to women, via the private sector. These private providers focus on profit maximization through electronic platforms and products, compelling women to circulate their limited funds among themselves. Consequently, women remain caught in a recurring financial cycle marked by restricted credit access. I conclude that financial inclusion integrates women into the formal economy but fails to address structural barriers that impede access to meaningful financial support. These findings have implications for future policies.

Paper short abstract

Although there is literature on cash transfers, including the South African Child Support Grant (CSG), there is limited research on how transfers for children can support youth transitions. Soweto households are sampled to assess savings and assets built for youth transition for long-term outcomes.

Paper long abstract

Many countries have adopted diverse social protection strategies to enhance cash transfer beneficiaries’ productivity through livelihood support, education, and targeted training for specific life stages (Patel et al., 2023). While social assistance programmes hold potential as transformative mechanisms, their impact depends on design and integration with complementary initiatives. One possible mechanism for making cash transfers transformative is through savings and building assets. Bastagli et al., (2019) and Churchill et al., (2024) have argued that greater poverty alleviation could be attained if recipients save a portion of the transfer income received.

While there is a significant body of literature on cash transfers, including the South African Child Support Grant (CSG), a means tested cash transfer, and evidence regarding their impacts in alleviating childhood poverty (Garman et al., 2022; Patel et al., 2018; Zembe-Mkabile et al., 2015), there is limited research on how cash transfers for children can support youth transitions towards long-term outcomes such as higher education and training enrolment, employment seeking, and starting an entrepreneurial business using savings and asset building.

This article investigated how the CSG might help young people transition towards long-term outcomes. The aim was to examine whether and how caregivers and children receiving the CSG in Soweto, saved money and built assets for youth transition. A qualitative research method was used, within an interpretivist paradigm.

The findings point to a number of interconnected causes the inability to save and build assets for youth transitions and the ways that structural realities influence aspirations and behaviour.

Paper short abstract

The study explores indigenous financial practices in Pakistan's agrarian communities, like ROSCAs and Qard-e-Hasna, as decolonial alternatives to mainstream models, and quantifies their impact on financial justice, advocating for policy support of community sovereignty.

Paper long abstract

Financial inclusion in Pakistan has improved over the years, yet agrarian communities face persistent barriers from top-down capitalist models. This research critiques these approaches through post-development theory, emphasizing indigenous systems such as Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs, locally known as "committees"), mutual aid networks and interest-free Qard-e-Hasna loans rooted in Islamic ethics. We argue that these practices promote financial justice which entails equitable, sovereign and sustainable resource access, prioritizing collective well-being over profit.

Grounded in theories of social capital and decolonial alternatives, the study highlights how agrarian groups leverage cultural reciprocity and ecological harmony to build resilient economies. It addresses a critical research gap by providing quantitative evidence, lacking in prior studies, on how indigenous knowledge influences outcomes like access equity and sustainability.

Employing a mixed-methods design, collecting primary data from 400-500 respondents via questionnaires measuring constructs like trust, awareness and perceived risks. The research would adopt an econometric approach to contribute to the body of knowledge by quantifying decolonial finance, offer empirical baselines for South Asia and inform policies for institutions like the State Bank of Pakistan (Central Bank) to protect indigenous practices, aligning with SDGs on poverty and inequality.