Reports

Annual Reports:

Newsletters:

Reports:

SaveAct Fact Sheet, January 2024
Resilience Study Fact Sheet
Supporting Economic Recovery and Resilience Efforts in Tourism-dependent communities. Fact sheet, GIZ E4D, SaveAct. October 2023.
GIZ E4D SaveAct Resilience Report. Resilience and just transitions in the context of savings groups. December 2023
Lessons from SALT. SALT is a simple board game with dice and tokens that simulates real-life household financial situations and scenarios in the context of climate events and change. This report evaluates the game’s strengths and weaknesses.
Impact evaluation of savings groups and stokvels in South Africa. The economic and social value of group-based financial inclusion. A report by FinMark Trust and SaveAct, 2018.
Better Financial Tools or More Financial Education? Behavioural Changes and Financial Literacy Messages Embedded in Savings Group Activities in South Africa. A University Meets Microfinance Case Study by Anna Custers, University of Oxford, Saïd Business School, 2016.
Empowering members and staff through financial education. Report by the PlaNet Finance Project team, 2016
Understanding strategies and opportunities to promote livelihoods strategies and small enterprise development, including in agriculture, through savings groups in a rural setting. Report published by FinMark Trust, South Africa, 2012.
Transforming lives: Can Savings and Credit Group membership work for people affected by HIV/AIDS?: A South African Case Study. Report produced by UK researcher Annie Barber, July 2011.
Participatory Market System Analysis for Matatiele, September 2010. A report was produced by Erna Kruger of Mahlathini Organics with assistance from SaveAct for LEAP, Eastern Cape.
PhotoVoice as a Tool for Planning and Measuring Impact of Community-based Economic Development Initiatives: renewing research models and practices. A paper was delivered at the ISDA (Innovation and Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Food) meeting in Montpelier, France from June 28 to July 1, 2010.[PDF 901 KB]

Reports on SaveAct’s impact:

A qualitative assessment of SaveAct’s work “Signs of Impact #1” produced in June 2009 by independent research specialists at the School of Psychology at UKZN reflects encouraging signs of impact. Download the report here. (Size 419KB).
Research by postgraduate student Alve Högman from the Department of Economics at Uppsala University Sweden confirms that SaveAct’s model has made a substantial difference to “consumption smoothing” among poor rural members and that SCGs are playing an increasingly important role in livelihood security. Read the thesis, Microsavings Effects on Consumption smoothing, here (PDF 926 KB).

A selection of videos depicting SaveAct’s work

The young teaching the young
Gcobani Qhina: From this business to that
Bring the youth in: Nompumelelo Co-op
A couple of business owners: the Sthomo family
Meet the staff: Siya Msani
Reinvention has no limit or age: Mrs Jiyane
Meet the staff: Jean-Pierre Watch
Driven by purpose: Sinenjongo NPC. Watch
Meet the SaveAct staff: Smake. Watch
Goat farmer, Mrs Mathonsi. Watch
What we’re all about. Watch
With the help of Zis’Ukhanyo’s enterprise development programme, the Mweli family, who live in a remote Drakensberg village, are profiting from a scarcity of chicken meat and eggs. Watch
SaveAct supports multiple savings groups in Namaqualand, Northern Cape. Watch a video about how they operate and how belonging to a savings group helped a farmer cope with drought.
SaveAct’s Anton Krone on unlocking the potential of SME’s in KwaZulu-Natal. Watch
Smallholder farmer Lefipha Sekhosana lost his job in the city. He went home to Matatiele, started farming and joined a savings group. This is his story.
What do savings group members do with their savings? In this short video enterprising smallholder farmers Ntombinkulu Mbele (54) and Jabulisile Duma (29) talk about how they invested their savings in a broiler enterprise.