Three types of guide are included in this section:
Earlier versions of the guides that allow for declining balance interest (1.06) are
available upon request to hugh@vsla.net
These recent manuals arose out of the need to simplify loan record-keeping. The main characteristics
are:
Important note: If you decide to use this model, but do not see your country included here, please contact VSL Associates
(hugh@vsla.net), in order to have us adapt the service charge (interest) calculation tables to your country. This is needed
because some currencies (such as the Tanzania shilling to the $US) have very large numbers, while others (such as the Ghanaian Cedi) have much smaller numbers. There is no charge for this
service. In the English files attached below you will find manuals adapted for 12 countries. These are:
Village Savings and Loan Federations are 'groups of groups'. They consist of clusters of between five to ten VSLAs. Their principal function is to mobilise additional savings from individual VSLAs, so that any VSLA in the Federation can request either a 3 or 6-month loan to increase the value of its loan fund, when extra capital is in demand.
Working with Plan Tanzania, Oxfam Nigeria and the Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP), we offer a simplified,
standardised approach to federating VSLAs, using meeting procedures and systems based closely on how things are done at the VSLA level. This has been successful, with over 250 such VSLFs,
recording high rates of return and capital formation in Tanzania and more than 100 such VSLFs in Nigeria, where Oxfam has successfully adopted this model, which is integral to their long-term
programme strategy.
The manuals that we attach are in English and French and cover not only the formation and functioning of VSLFs, but changes that are needed at the level of member VSLAs in order to mobilise funds to invest in the VSLF, but also to repay loans.
Many mature projects have reached a point at which they want VSLA members to think about how to select, plan and manage income-generating activities (IGAs). There are a number of training models that do this, but the SPM model, originally developed in Bangladesh by CARE, took a different approach. It differs from other models in the following ways:
It is based on the following main modules
For the moment this manual is only available in English.