This is sample of box used for preserving their saving And others contribution

Village Community Banks (VICOBA), has proved a success in boosting and raising incomes among different community members in the country over the years.

This is evident among various groups scattered across the country and are benefiting from the scheme. The small financial institutions are effective in mobilizing financial resources strategically by members engaging in small productive activities through their small savings obtained as loans

History of VSLA
The success of microfinance has been widely recognized in the last couple of decades as testa￾ment that the poor are “bankable”. At the same time, the microfinance industry has grown more
sophisticated and sometimes inaccessible to some of the poorest communities in rural Africa.
Lack of infrastructure, combined with poor roads, low population density and high labor costs
make microfinance services in Africa extremely expensive compared to Asia and Latin America.
Moreover, the average loan demand for a village-based income-generating activity is under $20,
about 40 percent less than the average entry-level microfinance loans, which also require rigid
terms and conditions.1 Finally, most microfinance institutions (MFIs) do not offer saving services
which are often the services in highest demand in rural Africa.
The Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) methodology helps fill in the above￾mentioned gap. VSLA is a low-cost financial service founded on the principle of fund pool￾ing, designed to serve the very poor whose income is irregular and high risk to MFIs. As such,
VSLAs play an important role in meeting the needs of women and men whose principal purpose
for accessing finance is to help them manage household cash flow, respond to life-cycle events
or invest in small income-generating activities. Moreover, VSLAs provide people, no matter how
remote or poor, with access to small amounts of local capital on flexible terms and to transact
such loans frequently at very low risk and negligible cost.
VSLA was first developed by CARE International in 1991 in Maradi, Niger. Designed primarily
for illiterate and extremely poor rural women, the methodology has matured over the years to
serve both literate and illiterate population in rural areas, market towns, peri-urban settlements
and urban slums. The primary purpose of a VSLA is to provide simple savings and loan facilities
in communities without access to formal financial services.
In areas where MFIs exist, VSLAs can be very complementary. VSLA members can be MFI
clients and vice versa, choosing different services to satisfy different needs. In fact, members of
VSLAs have the potential of become highly sought after MFI clients. VSLA members come with
extensive experience in saving, managing their funds and investing their money— all qualities
sought after by MFIs. Often, as VSLAs mature and members begin to operate more profit￾able businesses, they find themselves in need of funds beyond the scope of a VSLA. MFIs
offer a natural transition for larger funding.

A Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) is a group of people who save together and take small loans from those savings.

VICOBA AND VSLA CONSULTANT PERSONAL