Djanggi - Cameroon Loans and Credits Financing System Set to Flourish In the United States Of America.
Djanggi - The world has been in a state of financial crunch ever since the Recession began in the America in 2008. This was followed by the Euro Crisis and setback after setback has left the world still reeling from their aftermaths.
With traditional bank loans based on excellent credit scores, high liquidity on home equity line of credits, and a job requirement many people find themselves unable to acquire such bank loans or are simply maxed out. In addition, the culture of bank financing has always be a cold business operation with little to no social aspect.
Many Cameroonian community are tapping into the primitive financing and loan system called Djanggi (Njanggi) which is a well developed concept back in Cameroon, Africa.
What is Djanggi – Cameroon's Loan Finance System?
Banking, loans and financing in Cameroon, Africa
Djanggi is a simple, straight forward yet primitive of obtaining cash to carried out whateever transcations you so please.
Recent reports, show that in towns and cities within the United States of America, many are tapping into this source of alternate finance to make ends meet. From Kansas City, Washinton, DC; Atlanta, GA; Allentown, PA; Houston, TX, etc, not just Cameroonian immigrants but also community members are benefiting from the custom of Djanggi which owes its origin to Cameroon.
Similar systems of money management have also been found to be commonly practiced in certain other parts of Africa and the Caribbean.
How Does Djanggi Work as a Loan Financing and Servicing System?
Credit system in Cameroon, Africa
The basic idea behind Djanggi is to allow individuals to benefit from the power of a community rather than work in isolation. To this end, you can only have a successful Djanggi house (the Community) only if the members have a some shared interest that bonds them together i.e the tribe, community, profession, family ties, religion, origin, etc – some plateform on which they all agree.
Typical Djanggi houses are comprised of over 10 people but could get large and grow into hundreds (typical in Cameroon, Africa) necessitating a good organisational structure (a President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc).
The hardest part is getting approved for membership into a Djanggi house. Typically you will need to be recommended by a member in good standing, especially for well established Djanggi houses.
Each Djanggi house has its laws and policy to which they expect members to adhere. In typical statings, these laws are inherent in the community or profession that they share as a common interest, hence no written documents are available in most Djanggi houses in Cameroon, Africa.
A strong point is how often to hold Djanggi house meetings. Typically, this is done monthly, but other Djanggi houses with emphasis on family, or profession hold quarterly or annual meetings.
All transactions are started and finalized during the Djanggi house meeting:
Each of the Djanggi is required to pool in a specific amount of money, say 100 dollars every meeting making it a grand total of 1000 dollars per meeting.
This collected cash money is then handed over to one member can then used the funds for whatever plans he/she had.
So it will take a number of meetings equal to the number of members in the Djanggi house to complete the cycle and pay off everyone.
At the end of the cycle, new members are admitted and old members have the opportunity to exit if they so desire.
Why Many People Hold On To The Cameroon Tradition of Djanggi
Countless Cameroonians would prefer using a Djanggi House over a bank financing system for many reasons:
- The Social Aspect
- Djanggi grants you Community Membership
- Djanggi Provides Interest Free Loan Financing
Djanggi meeting days are fun days. Typically the host is the person who will be receiving the cash money from all other members. He/She is expected to be a good host and they all are - providing an over supply of various food, palm wine, fruits and plentiful musics for all.
Even in affluent Cameroonian communities in the western world, this is the part they crave most about Djanggi. This is the primary reason they form a Djanggi house in their community or drive over three (3) hours to be a member of one.
Be sure to attend a Djanggi meeting during your stay in Cameroon, Africa. Meetings are open to guest, all you need is to be invited by a member which is pretty easy thing.
As can be expected, Djanggi members have s strong bond and solidarity towards one another, especially when a member is going through difficult times. The biggest force of Djanggi membership can be fled when you are bereved. Meetings are held to find ways of providing personal assistance to you – food, phone calls, errants, babysitting, you name it. In some community, members will take turns spending the night with your family just so you are comfortable.
Those who “eat” the Djanggi (pidgin english for the beneficiary of the Djanggi cash) do so in an interest free, fee free manner. For this reason, many businessmen are participants of several Djanggi houses to boost their business capital.
Immigrants from Cameroon who had fled the country in order to escape from the clutches of dictatorship were the ones who brought the practice into Kansas City. Today even resident Americans of Kansas City use this alternative to taking a loan to free themselves of debts or to make prompt payments of loan installments.
Various images in use in the money of Cameroon, Africa
KCUR's Susan B. Wilson spoke to Emmanuel Ngomsi who is the captain of Universal Highways, Inc., an organization that educates people and makes them aware of cross cultural differences and their benefits. He strongly feels that a system like Djanggi is not just the safer and simpler alternative to financing using a mortgage but in the process can improve relationships and enforce community bonds. Read the full interview here
What do you thing of this age old customer of loan financing and servicing – Djanggi Houses?
Are there any Djanggi house meetings in your community? If yes, please provide us with meeting times and city. We would love to connect all Djanggi houses allover the world together and seek ways to improve this Cameroonian tradition.
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