Taking stock of what's been developed and implemented over the past 1.5 years of community guaranteed lending through Life in Africa, this is where we are at in terms of what's working, that the communities intend to build on.

1. Group guaranteed lending:

• borrowers form groups of 5. The group receives shs500,000, to divide equally among themselves, and receives no more until the entire shs500,000 plus interest is returned in monthly payments collected from the group leader. If it's returned ontime, the group can then get shs750,000. If it's returned late, the maximum they can get again is still shs500,000.
• non LiA members of other community organizations may join in this system when they join as a group of 20 (organized into smaller groups of 5). A designated leader of the group of 20 is responsible for collecting payments from the groups of 5. The group of 20 will not receive further loan funds until all of the groups of 5 have returned the funds. The organization to which those members belong stands as a final guarantor in case of default by the group of 20.
• the largest amount that a group of 5 can receive through this system is shs1m.

• This system started in Gulu with shs8m from the Omidyar.net community. Additional loan funds are required to achieve increases in amounts disbursed to the groups over time. KIVA represents one option for sourcing that capital - they will allow groups to apply for a loan as a group.

Ideally, in my mind, members should have to participate in a group that has a clean repayment history until after the 1m group loan has been repaid. At that point, individuals in that group can qualify to apply for a Life in Africa guarantee for a loan of 250,000 as an individual, then climbing further through good performance and demonstrated ability to repay, to a maximum of shs1m.

more later.