Breaking the cycle of poverty and empowering individuals and communities
Saving Group Members
Average annual savings
SaveAct facilitates the formation of savings groups in communities as a simple but effective tool to fight poverty, as a foundation for building sustainable livelihoods, and as a means to empower women and other vulnerable groups.
Founded in Pietermaritzburg in 2005, we have 110 000 individual members in eight provinces in South Africa and work with a network of committed partner organisations.
Our unique savings model incorporates:
Last-mile Distribution
What We Do
Savings groups and financial capability
We facilitate the establishment in rural communities of voluntary savings groups that allow people to save and grow their money. We work with partners across eight provinces to scale up the model, which includes financial education and enterprise development.
Livelihoods and enterprise development
Building on the success of savings groups, we have created a livelihoods and enterprise development (LED) programme. This aims to improve livelihood and wealth creation opportunities in a sustainable manner while empowering people to take ownership of their enterprises.
Last mile access: Zis’Ukhanyo
To achieve long-term sustainability, savings groups and enterprise groups need to be able to access goods and services at reasonable prices — often in deep rural areas where these commodities are hard to come by. The Zis’Ukhanyo programme tackles those needs.
Building ecosystems
We have a vision of using technology and access to markets to build an improved “ecosystem” with financial and other services designed around the needs of savings groups and, more generally, those who continue to be largely excluded from the dominant development path.
Latest News
‘Supersaver’ ventures into kids’ party entertainment
Swinky Mchunu (47) is what we call a Supersaver! With four established businesses, all started with her SaveAct savings and loans, this busy woman, with an easy laugh and kind smile, is now starting a new venture — children’s party entertainment. She joined her first...
SG loans jump-start success for Eshowe entrepreneur
Mphile Mbuyazi joined SaveAct in 2020 because she saw local savings group members who were doing big things, things she wanted to do, and everyone around her kept encouraging her to join. Her success has been astonishing! With access to saving group (SG) loans she has...
Turning waste into wealth
The mark of a true entrepreneur is the ability to see treasure where others see trash. Claudia Ntuli saw good vegetables going to waste and came up with a plan to turn them into something she could sell. Ntuli is from Ntabamhlophe, KZN, and has been with SaveAct since...
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