Joseph Oloba, Lecturer, School of Business, LivingStone International University (Uganda)

Joseph’s project seeks to conduct an action research on the Opportunities for Village Savings Associations (VSLAs) in Driving Communal Economic Progress. It is unclear why Eastern Uganda is the poorest in the country and why little academic research has been conducted on cross-sectional designs.

The project is supported by the question, “What are the Opportunities for Village Savings Associations (VSLAs) in Driving Communal Economic Progress?”. The Community partner (Lyadda Baker – Consultant Uganda Management Institute and a Founder of a VSLA for the Elderly (Retirees) in Budaka district) intend to carry out an Action Research on selected VSLAs in Budaka and test different action models throughout the study. The members of these VSLAs will also be part of the partnership since the different model interventions will be targeted towards benefiting them.

The project envisions the leadership of VSLAs will gain better knowledge and skills of running VSLAs within a 6 months’ period, at least 150 VSLA members will learn how to make better economic decisions, modern financial technology will be introduced to at least 10 VSLAs and this will guarantee safety of their finances. It believes VSLAs will be more equipped to become transformation centers for economic progress and will be able to start owning scalable investments and transform the lives of their members.