Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion

Final Report/Synopsis of Research Results:

Based on research conducted with Josephine Magawi

This study derives from a concern with traditional credit institutions in Africa, an area of research that has come under increasing focus in the study of local economies in transitional societies. The study focuses on the role of oracular deities as traditional sources of credit among the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria. “Borrowing from the gods,” as the study conceptualizes the phenomenon, is a seemingly dynamic autochthonous tradition among a limited number of local communities of the ethnic Igbo noted for their powerful ancestral deities. Some of these communities include Okija, Oba, Ogrugu, Umulumgbe, and Ugbaike. The central objective of the study is to use the experiences of three ethnic Igbo local communities to enhance the understanding of the history, operation, opportunities and externalities of the relatively unknown fetish divinity credit institution.