Picture of App Secretary Abdulai Mariama entering transactions into hiveonline’s VSLA.online app during one of her savings group’s meetings.
We are thrilled to continue advancing financial inclusion in Ghana thanks to our partnership with ACDI/VOCA under USAID’s Feed the Future Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity.
The MSR Activity is a five-year initiative with a budget of $35.9 million to connect smallholders with markets, inputs, and services in Ghana. Its primary objectives include fortifying the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem to foster broader market engagement, particularly among women and youth. Additionally, MSR is broadening the availability of agribusiness services and aligning targeted policy initiatives with improved local economic governance.
As a sub-awardee for the MSR Activity, we will digitise 300 savings groups (7500 members) from the Northern Region of Ghana via hiveonline’s VSLA.online platform to connect them to financial services. Digitising these groups is the first phase of this project, building a foundation for connecting savings groups to the financial market and services. Their digital operations recorded through the app provide KYC, including crucial digital demographic and financial data, to facilitate the lending process and prepare for Phase 2, which is focussed on sustainable linkages to financial institutions.
This initiative extends our reach in Ghana, where over 500 users already benefit from our digital solutions through our partnership with SWIDA Ghana and the World Food Programme. Overall, we have learned from current users that VSLA.online has been motivating their savings group members to attend meetings regularly thanks to reduced meeting time, reduced stress by simplifying the meeting process (e.g. automated built-in calculations for their transactions) and guaranteed data reliability and transparency.
App secretary Hamidu Razak, from one of SWIDA’s savings groups, shares: “Ever since we started using the hiveonline VSLA, my members now attend meetings regularly. As we use the phone to do savings, we are no longer buying pens, stamps, passbooks, ink which saves money. The app has built trust in me as the app secretary as members receive messages to know their transactions after we end the meeting. I wish other groups would have the chance to join hiveonline VSLA because other people also monitor our sittings and our transactions as well. We thank SWIDA -GH for their effort”.
Another app secretary, Abdulai Mariama, says, “Since we started using hiveonline VSLA.online, it has increased our meeting attendance. I am now able to use Android [phone] to enter transactions faster and easier. I will encourage other groups to join hiveonline VSLA.online as it makes meeting attendance effective.”. You can view Hamidu Razak and Abdulai Mariama’s interview here.
We’re excited to expand our footprint in Ghana, broaden our impact, and empower even more individuals across the region. We have started training the 300 app secretaries for USAID’s Feed the Future Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity grant. We will begin rolling out the app to groups within the next month. We look forward to sharing more success stories with you. Stay tuned!
Would you like to learn more about our solutions or to partner with us? Get in touch at sales@hivenetwork.online