Small Steps, Big Impact: Group Savings Groups in Zamfara, Borno and Yobe

"The most difficult thing is your decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity."

That is why LHI acted through a sustainable project, Group Savings and Loan Associations (GSLA), so that women and men can build themselves up financially. With support from Secours Islamique France (SIF) and ZOA, groups in Zamfara, Biu (Borno) and Yobe are turning money, "a terrible master", into an excellent servant.

Download the GSLA data report (PDF)

How a group works

• Five days of training and orientation on budgeting, saving and prudent investment before a group starts.
• Weekly meetings where members buy shares, contribute to a social fund and review their savings.
• A savings box with three locks, each key held by a different member, so no one person controls the money.
• Share-out at the end of the cycle, when each member receives their savings and earnings.

Members in Zamfara

| LGA | Members | |---|---| | Gusau | 100 | | Talata Mafara | 90 | | Tsafe | 87 | | Anka | 79 |

In Biu, groups were formed in 11 communities, including Bayan Tasha, Dashu, Pompomari, Shememwada and Kasalabata IDP camp. In Yobe, members enrolled in Damaturu and Potiskum.

What share-out made possible

• Malama Halima took her share-out to the market.
• Aliyu, a farmer, invested his in his farm.
• Baba Amina started a business after receiving his savings.
• Malama Amina, a businesswoman, used her share-out as start-up capital.

Savings knows no age: older members saved alongside young people, and in Buriya community men and women met together for their end-of-year meeting.

See the project dossier · View the GSLA fact sheet and presentation