Home The EcoCity Concept City of Johannesburg The EcoVillage The Co-operatives Youth Environmental Co-operatives Iteke Waste Recycling Co-operative Shova Lula Cycle Co-operative EcoBanking EcoBuilders Community Ownership Energy Co-operative EcoVillage: a vision of the future The Trustees Acknowledgements	EcoBanking Money is scarce in a place like Ivory Park. Just over half of its residents earn a living outside of the township. This means that the other half are dependent on any money that might come into the area, and most never get any sight of it. This is one of the most profound problems facing a disadvantaged area like Ivory Park. The multiplier effect where money makes money is absent. This is further compounded by consumer patterns favouring branded products and large shops that offer credit facilities, meaning that money earned through formal employment is mostly deducted from their salaries and so the cash never enters their local area. Most people don’t understand how money is managed within the current financial and banking system. As a result most people do not understand how money can make them more money and that the lack of money is both the symptom and the cause of poverty. Money, and the discussion of it, are often taboo in many cultures and Africa is no exception. It is traditionally the domain of highly qualified people who dress in grey suits and have plush offices. This further increases the lack of understanding and the alienation of ordinary people from one of the most important resources of their day-to-day lives. Without money you have few chances in this world. Banks don’t want to know you unless you earn a minimum income. It is hard to get the affordable loans that are available to the richer sectors because of the perceived risk attached to the “poor” borrowing money. Contrary to popular belief, the poor are often better at paying back loans, especially women, but the high transaction costs associated with small loans makes the banks even further reluctant to engage with this sector. EcoCity challenges these basic perceptions and the way money is organised in the world by bringing it into the domain of ordinary, and often poor, people. It is following the lead of other countries, like Pakistan and India, where simple saving schemes have lead to the poor being able to borrow money to assist them in setting up their small business. Such saving schemes are popular in poor areas of South Africa but carried out on an informal basis where the poor are not getting the best use of their savings. EcoCity has completed feasibility studies that show that there is money in areas like Ivory Park and that the poor are desperate to find better ways of saving their money and utilising it. They need greater access to banks and loans. EcoCity is therefore seeking assistance to start the eco-co-operative bank that will work hand in hand with its other programmes to assist and develop the savings and loan schemes of the areas, and allow people to be able to afford to make life choices. Of course the emphasis will again be on ecofriendly loans, but assisting people to get out of their poverty trap allows them at least to make some sound eco decisions.