In Ghana, marginalized communities struggle with consistently enhancing their financial stability and overall welfare. Despite the beneficial influence of informal savings groups in certain localities, these groups face obstacles in expanding and integrating into the broader financial sector. This hinders their capacity to effectively pool resources, mitigate individual risks, and embrace responsible financial behaviors.
As part of the USAID-funded Ghana Market Systems and Resilience Activity (MSR) Grant, ACDI/VOCA Ghana has partnered with hiveonline services to modernize the operations of 7,500 smallholder farmers in Tamale who are part of VSLAs (Village Savings and Loan Associations). The primary aim is to enhance the financial resilience and prosperity of these farmers by granting them improved access to financial services and markets through the utilization of digital technology. The grant endeavors to capitalize on the community dynamics of informal savings groups, specifically VSLAs, and facilitate their integration into the broader financial ecosystem through digital means.
Sung Foundation, as part of the Hiveonline Digital Community Finance for Savings Groups (VSLA.online) project, conducted training sessions for 300 secretaries from VSLA groups across six districts. These secretaries were instructed on the importance of using the VSLA.online application and were taught how to navigate its features. The selected secretaries were drawn from the project’s focus districts: Nanton, Sagnarigu, Karaga, Yendi, Gushegu, and Mion in the Northern Region.
