Interest-Free Benevolent Relief
A benevolent loan for a genuine hardship — 0% interest, no profit motive.
Benevolent relief is money lent purely as an act of solidarity: a member in distress borrows from the cooperative’s revolving relief pool and repays it at their own pace, with nothing added on top. It exists for the moments savings and financing aren’t built for — a hospital bill, a funeral, a term’s school fees.
Four kinds of hardship the pool exists to cover
Every application names a category and a reason — reviewed by the cooperative, not automated away.
- Medical emergency
- Bereavement
- Education distress
- Loss of livelihood
Applying, guaranteeing, and repaying
Apply with a reason
State the amount, the hardship category, and what happened — reviewed by the cooperative's welfare process.
Guarantor pledge (Co-signer), above ₦20,000
A co-member with sufficient savings pledges to guarantee the loan — a solidarity pledge, not a fee.
Admin approval
The cooperative confirms the case and disburses from the revolving relief pool.
Repay, or be relieved
Repay at your own pace back into the pool — or, in prolonged hardship, have the balance forgiven through community-funded relief.
Revolving relief pool
Member-funded
The pool is seeded and replenished by member donations and loan repayments — every naira that comes back goes to the next member in need. A cooperative can see, at any time, its pool balance, total disbursed, total repaid, and how many members are currently carrying a relief loan.
- Loan cap
- ₦100,000
- Guarantor threshold
- ₦20,000
- Interest, always
- 0%
The rules that keep the pool solvent
- Relief loans are capped at ₦100,000 per member
- Loans up to ₦20,000 need no guarantor at all
- Above that, a co-member's savings back the loan under a guarantor pledge
- Genuine hardship can convert an outstanding loan into community-funded relief
Relief and welfare work together
Genuine, prolonged hardship can move from an unpaid relief loan into community-funded hardship assistance — see how rafiqHQ manages benevolent welfare pools.