Village Inc. Africa

Empowering Sub-Saharan communities to determine their economic and social prosperity
2014 SEED Africa Award; European Union
Biodiversity
Babati
Tanzania

Villages incorporate their own Village Company, a for-profit enterprise which is self-managed, scalable and self-fundable. It has three purposes: 1) Create and run for-profit businesses in their village, thus stimulating and developing a local economy. 2) Finance community-chosen social needs. 3) Repay the “macrocredit” used as working capital for the VC.

VCs are registered LLCs, with shares gradually transferred to the villagers. VCs are trained in governance and management under the key principles of business excellence, transparency and accountability.

Eco-Inclusive Impacts
Village Inc. Africa support local businesses that bring employment with "macrocredit", income and financial security to the community, thus stimulating the local economy and reducing migration for employment.
  • Empowering village communities to take an active role in social enterprises that benefit their community.
  • Reducing rural out-migration by enabling new livelihood opportunities.
  • Fostering autonomy which can lead to future prosperity.

  • Providing solar cook stoves as part of a new affordable housing project.
  • Distributing first-generation seeds that prosper on natural fertilisers.

 

 

  • Creating new business opportunities through “macrocredit”.
  • Generating income through employment created through new VC-approved ventures.
  • Rewarding economic clusters of VCs, as villages combine their resources in collaborative projects.

Partners

Village Inc. Africa supports the creation of village companies in the Babati area of Tanzania. Communities structure their village like a business, thus giving them access to low interest loans to fund enterprises and projects. Profits are used to fund urgent social projects, such as sanitation. Villagers become shareholders once a village company meets a series of good governance and fiscal targets.

Village Inc. Africa continuously improves the concept and its implementation by sharing expertise and investing in the VCs and the VCIs.

VCI-Babati is the Village Company Incubator in the Babati region. It provides support, including “macrocredits”, expertise and training, to Village Companies in their area.

Seloto Village Company is one of the operating VCs and a key partner as it implements and contributes to the development of the model.