Friday, January 4, 2013

VILLAGE COMMUNITY BANK (VICOBA)



Village community banks were initially started by women's
groups in West Africa as a means of empowering them to
manage their own funds

  • Through the system, women mobilized group savings from which they took loans (similar to the round merry go round system)
  • The system proved to be exceptionally successful in creating economic empowerment for women at the lower end of the pyramid, as such it was adopted by CARE and spread to a number of different countries in Africa.



Typically, a village community bank
will have 20‐30 members, a metal box with three locks, pass books, group stamp,
different colored ledgers and different bowls for collection of group funds.

Concept is introduced through a village meeting

  • Interested people register in fives to form a group of 20 – 30
  • Minimum criteria:


  1. Above 18
  2. Able to attend regular meetings
  3. Able to purchase shares
  4. The group meets every week and receives training for the first three month the design of the training accommodates both the literate and illiterate members of the community, through use of picture codes, stories and illustrations

Training Outcome

  • Group dynamics Group constitution
  • Savings and credit Group savings
  • Leadership
  • Conflict management
  • Design of business project Individual Business projects (According to local environment)






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