Savings groups are not only a viable alternative for the vast number of people unlikely to be served by brick-and-mortar financial institutions, they are the catalyst for enhanced social capital, improved gender relations, women’s leadership, and community social and economic development. In the last 20 years, these pioneering projects have demonstrated the power of saving over and over again. Now they are achieving very rapid growth, increasing in number and scale.

This paper seeks to explore and explain the nature of savings groups and the varying approaches used by the most experienced facilitating agencies (FAs) and projects, which mainly work in Africa.