Background:

VSL Associates Ltd was formally incorporated as a limited liability company in the UK in January 2007, having operated informally for the previous 2 years. It was founded specifically to promote the adoption of a particular approach to community-managed microfinance, known as the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) model.

This was driven by a conviction that a new, savings-led, model of microfinance was needed to reach the rural and urban poor that MFIs had, for the most part, failed to serve through reasons of risk, cost and an inherent, limited, demand for credit.

VSL Associates founder, Hugh Allen, has worked exclusively since 1995 on the development of the model and has actively facilitated its spread, from its beginnings in Niger to 11 other countries in Africa and to its adoption by CRS and Plan International throughout their Africa programmes and in Asia.

Realising the need and demand for a new and appropriate model of rural microfinance, it was this experience of the methodology’s success that led him, with Chuck Waterfield’s active support, to establish the company, designed specifically to spread the methodology to as wide an array of international and local organisations as possible.

VSL Associates is, at present the only international company that is specifically founded and structured to offer training, MIS and M&E services to programmes that want to promote a specific model of community-managed microfinance. Its list of clients include:

• CARE International in Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Níger, Sierra Leone, South Africa/Lesotho, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

• Plan International in Benin, Ghana, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania and Togo

• Farm Africa in Ethiopia

• Aga Khan foundation in Kenya

• SCC Vi-Agroforestry in Kenya and Rwanda

• DfID/CLP Bangladesh

• DfID/FSDU Uganda

• DfiD/UWESO Uganda

• World Bank Bangladesh

VSL Associates has also provided the following training services:

• CARE International Worldwide VSL Workshop Nairobi 2005. Lead facilitator

• CRS in Africa, conference on VSL, Kenya Nairobi 2005. Lead facilitator

• VIA/SIDA VSL international workshop Nairobi 2006. Lead facilitator

• World Vision Summer School facilitator on VSL, England 2006. Facilitator

• Boulder MFT, Community-managed Microfinance 2006/2007. Facilitator. Ongoing

• Southern New Hampshire MDI Community-managed Microfinance 2006/2007. Lead facilitator. Ongoing

• Plan International All-Africa conference on VSL, Tanzania 2005. Lead facilitator

Tools and Products

VSL Associates has developed a generic Programme Guide for community-managed microfinance programmes, now published by PracticalAction Publications of the UK and featured on the CARE, CGAP and FAO websites. It is also available for free download in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish from this website.

Working with Chuck Waterfield, VSL Associates has also created an industry standard MIS for VSL programmes, and has facilitated investment in its further development from Oxfam America, CRS, Plan International and CARE, all of whom are standardising its use in their community-based microfinance programmes.

Hugh Allen is also the facilitator of the SEEP Network Savings-led Financial Services Ratios working group, which has finalised the development of industry standard ratios for community-managed microfinance programmes. The ratios paper is available from the SEEP Network website

Approach

VSL Associates operates as a consulting company from its base in Solingen, Germany. It has a list of microfinance experts on call who specialise in VS&L as needed. These include:

• Hugh Allen, UK, Founder (VSL Programme design, VSL Methodology training, MIS training, Community-managed Microfinance evaluation)

• Gabrielle Athmer, Holland (VSL programme design, VSL Methodology training, MIS training)

• Ezra Anyango, Kenya (VSL and Community-managed Microfinance evaluation)

• Alfred Hamadziripi, Zimbabwe (VSL programme design, VSL Methodology training)

• George Mkoma, Tanzania (VSL methodology training)

• Caleb Varner, USA (VSL VSL methodology training in Spanish

• Chuck Waterfield, USA (MIS only)