00 Pre-work: before you depart
Eight tasks to complete before boarding the plane. The business and finance curriculum requires cultural and contextual grounding that cannot be absorbed on arrival — prepare before you land.
PW-01
Learn what an Osusu is
A rotating savings club: members contribute a fixed amount weekly or monthly, and each week a different member receives the full pot. No interest. No emergency access. No permanent capital. Built on trust, not on growth. This is the existing financial infrastructure.
Start: Read about it now
PW-02
Learn what a VSLA is
The Village Savings and Loan Association is the upgrade from an Osusu: members buy "shares" in a pot that earns interest on internal loans. At year-end, the pot is distributed. It creates permanent community capital. CARE International has free VSLA training guides online.
Start: Download CARE VSLA manual
PW-03
Make 20 Two-Box cash management sets
Two small boxes or envelopes, labeled: "Business Money" and "House Money." This is the entire financial literacy intervention for most traders. It sounds too simple. It is not. Make 20 sets before you depart.
Start: Now — cost is two boxes and a marker
PW-04
Prepare a visual ledger template
Icons instead of words: a bag of rice = goods purchased, a coin = cash received, a person = customer. Non-literate traders use this to track daily transactions. Test it on someone who cannot read before you arrive.
Start: 2 weeks out
PW-05
Learn how Afrimoney and Orange Money work
They are mobile money platforms. Transactions are recorded in the phone, not in a bank. This is the financial infrastructure. Understand the PIN safety risks before you teach about them. Watch "mobile money Sierra Leone" on YouTube.
Start: Watch YouTube — mobile money Sierra Leone
PW-06
Understand post-harvest distress selling
Farmers sell grain in October (harvest — lowest prices) to pay school fees. They buy it back in July (hungry season — highest prices). Storage + delayed selling is the intervention. Understand this dynamic before framing any business advice.
Start: Understand this cycle now
PW-07
Design a Profitability Scorecard for cassava processing
Three lines: Revenue (price × quantity sold), Cost of goods (raw cassava + processing costs), Profit. This is the full business model. Make it fit on one page. It must work for someone with limited literacy.
Start: 2 weeks out
PW-08
Research cassava gari value-add numbers
The value-add from selling processed cassava flour (gari) vs. raw cassava roots is significant. Know the approximate numbers before you arrive — the difference between raw root price and gari price in Makeni market is the business case for processing cooperatives.
Start: 3 weeks out
01 Unlearn: assumptions to leave behind
Four assumptions that are common at home and actively harmful when applied to Bombali's informal economy.
Unlearn #1 — "Get them a bank account"
There are no bank branches in most of rural Bombali. The nearest Rokel Commercial Bank is in Makeni. Mobile money is the real banking infrastructure. Teach people to use it safely, not to use something they cannot access.
Unlearn #2 — "Register the business"
Business registration in Sierra Leone requires travel to Freetown, fees, and documentation. For a market woman running a SLL 50,000/day operation, this is not a viable near-term goal. Teach the internal financial systems that make a business grow regardless of registration status.
Unlearn #3 — "You need a loan to grow"
Most micro-traders don't need a loan. They need to stop spending business capital on household needs. The Two-Box system separates the money first. Growth follows from that, not from credit.
Unlearn #4 — "Cooperatives need formal legal structure"
A functional VSLA runs on a simple handwritten constitution, two elected officers, and a metal cash box. Legal registration is optional for groups under a certain size. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
What does transfer
Cash flow management discipline, visual record-keeping, group savings structure, value-chain costing, mobile money safety, cooperative governance — all directly applicable.
02 The economic landscape
| Sector | Key actors | Financial reality |
|---|
| Market trade |
Market women (market mammies) |
No separation of household and business money; capital erosion through household spending |
| Transport |
Okada riders (motorbike taxis) |
Vehicle is business capital; maintenance costs come from household money, accelerating vehicle failure |
| Agriculture |
Smallholder farmers |
Post-harvest distress selling; no price information; monopsony buying by middlemen at harvest |
| Processing |
Women's cassava cooperatives |
Raw material sales only; value-add processing underused due to lack of cost analysis |
| Mobile money |
Afrimoney / Orange Money agents |
Infrastructure is present; PIN theft and SIM swap fraud risk is high and underestimated |
03 The 5 highest-impact interventions
IMPACT 01
The Two-Box Cash Management
Stops the cycle of eating your capital. A physical separation of business money from household money is the foundation that makes every other intervention possible.
Leave behind: two physical, labeled cash boxes for each participating trader
IMPACT 02
VSLA Structuring and Governance
Turns a social circle (Osusu) into a reliable source of community credit with interest earnings and emergency access. The most durable financial institution in Bombali's context.
Leave behind: a VSLA Constitution template and a ledger book
IMPACT 03
Mobile Money Digital Safety
Prevents fraud and PIN theft, which is the primary barrier to digital financial adoption. Once an account is cleaned out by fraud, the user abandons the platform permanently.
Leave behind: laminated "PIN Safety" cards
IMPACT 04
Value-Add Costing (Cassava / Palm)
Helps farmers understand whether processing their own product is actually profitable versus selling raw. The analysis often changes cooperative behaviour immediately.
Leave behind: a Profitability Scorecard
IMPACT 05
Visual Record-Keeping
Empowers non-literate traders to track their own growth. A trader who can see their own trend owns their business in a way they cannot when the numbers only exist in their memory.
Leave behind: custom-stamped visual ledgers
04 Osusu to VSLA: the upgrade
The Osusu is built on trust and works for social cohesion. Its structural limitations: no member can access money in an emergency between rounds. There is no interest — the pot does not grow. When the round ends, the group often dissolves without a mechanism to continue.
The VSLA adds three things:
- Emergency loan access — from a separate "social fund" funded by small weekly contributions
- Interest earnings on loans — 10–20% per loan cycle, distributed to shareholders at year-end
- Annual share-out — the full pot is divided among members proportional to shares owned, with interest earned
The transition from Osusu to VSLA requires: a group meeting, election of two officers (chairperson and secretary/treasurer), agreement on meeting frequency and share price, and a one-page constitution written in simple Krio. The constitution fits on one page and has been drafted by groups across West Africa with no external legal assistance.
The metal cash box
The VSLA cash box has three locks. The chairperson holds one key. The secretary holds one key. A third elected member holds the third key. No one person can access the box alone. This physical governance structure predates most institutional fraud prevention systems by centuries and is more effective in this context than any digital equivalent.
05 Value chain costing: cassava example
Walk through the cassava value chain with the cooperative: raw cassava root is sold to a middleman at harvest for the lowest price of the year. Alternatively, it can be grated, pressed (to remove moisture), dried (solar dryer or sun), and sold as Gari — processed cassava flour that commands significantly higher prices.
The problem is not that cooperatives don't know that Gari is worth more. The problem is that no one has ever run the calculation for their specific volume, labour cost, and local price. Run the calculation together. The profitability scorecard makes the comparison concrete.
Cassava value chain — example numbers for illustration
| Stage | Product | Typical price | Notes |
|---|
| Farm gate |
Raw cassava roots |
SLL 80,000 / bag |
Sold to middleman traders at harvest — lowest price of the year |
| Processed |
Gari (dried cassava flour) |
SLL 180,000–240,000 / bag |
3–4× raw value; price varies by season and quality |
| Processing cost |
Labor + equipment |
SLL 30,000–50,000 / bag |
Grating + pressing + drying + packaging; equipment amortization included |
| Net value-add |
Profit premium over raw sale |
SLL 50,000–110,000 / bag |
After all processing costs; varies with gari market price |
The post-harvest trap
Farmers sell at harvest (October) when prices are lowest because they need immediate cash for school fees and household needs. The business solution is not more credit — it is a community storage and delayed-sale arrangement that lets farmers hold stock until dry-season prices rise. The VSLA's social fund can provide the bridge loan that makes delayed selling possible.
06 Mobile money safety
Mobile money is the banking system. Losing access to it through fraud is not an inconvenience — it is a financial catastrophe. Two failure modes cover the majority of mobile money theft:
Threat 1 — PIN theft
Someone watches the user enter their PIN, then steals the phone or borrows it "briefly." Fix: cover the keypad with your free hand every single time you enter your PIN. Demonstrate this physically. Have every participant practice it at least three times before leaving the session.
Threat 2 — SIM swap fraud
A fraudster convinces the mobile network to issue a new SIM on the user's number, gaining access to all mobile money accounts linked to that number. Fix: register your SIM with your national ID card. A registered SIM is significantly harder to swap fraudulently because the network requires identity verification.
Additional safety rules: never share your PIN with anyone — including family members. Set a PIN that is not your birthday, not your child's birthday, not 1234. Keep a small balance in mobile money and move larger amounts to a savings group (VSLA) where they cannot be accessed without physical presence.
Mobile money as a savings tool
Money held in mobile money rather than cash at home is safer from the household spending pressure that erodes business capital. Teach traders to use the mobile money balance as a deliberate holding mechanism — transfer daily profit to mobile money at end of trading day, move accumulated amount to VSLA share purchase on meeting day.
07 21-day schedule
PreWeek −4
Pre-departure preparation
- Learn VSLA structure — download and read the CARE VSLA manual
- Make Two-Box sets (20 pairs of labeled boxes or envelopes)
- Design and test the visual ledger template on a non-literate person
- Research cassava gari price in Makeni market — ask on Sierra Leone diaspora WhatsApp groups
Wk 1Day 1
Arrive and observe the market
Walk the market. Identify the busiest traders. Ask what they sell and how they track their money. Do not teach anything today — listen and observe. Note: how are traders physically handling cash?
Wk 1Day 2
Map the existing Osusu groups
Identify the existing Osusu groups. Ask: how long has the group been running? Has anyone ever joined and left? Has the group ever grown beyond its original members? These answers tell you the health of the group.
Wk 1Day 3
Two-Box demonstration with 5–8 market women
Use real money from their stall. Show the separation physically with their own cash. Ask them to name what is in each box. The first reaction is usually laughter — followed immediately by recognition. Immediate, concrete impact.
Leave behind: Two-Box sets with each participating trader
Wk 1Day 4
Visual ledger workshop
Each trader designs their own ledger using the icon system. They choose their own icons — the icon for "cassava" should come from them, not from you. Ownership of the ledger design increases the likelihood it gets used.
Wk 1Day 5
Mobile money safety session
Demonstrate PIN entry coverage with your own phone. Discuss SIM swap risk in plain language. Have every participant demonstrate the PIN coverage technique before the session ends.
Leave behind: laminated PIN Safety cards after Day 18 lamination
Wk 1Day 6
Rest — visit the mobile money agent
Visit the Afrimoney or Orange Money agent in the area. Understand their operation: commission structure, float management, typical transaction volume. This context makes the mobile money session more credible.
Wk 1Day 7
Prioritize with the community
Which intervention matters most to them? The Two-Box traders from Day 3 may already be reporting a change. The Osusu groups may be ready to discuss the VSLA. Follow the energy, not the agenda.
Wk 2Day 8
VSLA introduction session
Present to the existing Osusu group. Explain the three additions: emergency loan access, interest on loans, annual share-out. Answer questions. Do not pressure — the group must choose to upgrade, not be converted.
Wk 2Day 9
VSLA structure session — if the group is ready
If the group wants to proceed: elect two officers (chairperson, secretary/treasurer), set meeting schedule, agree share price. These decisions are theirs. Record them in the field notebook.
Wk 2Day 10
VSLA constitution drafting
One page, in Krio, signed by all members. Cover: share price, meeting day, loan interest rate, penalty for late payment, share-out date. This document governs millions of leones — it should take the full day to get right.
Leave behind: signed constitution copy with the secretary
Wk 2Day 11
Cassava cooperative session — value chain walk-through
Walk through the cassava value chain calculation with a cassava women's group. Use their actual prices, not the example numbers from this guide. Their numbers are the only ones that matter.
Wk 2Day 12
Gari processing demonstration
If materials are available, show the full process from root to gari. At the end: compare the price of what you started with to the price of what you ended with. Let the cooperative do the arithmetic.
Wk 2Day 13
Profitability Scorecard training
Each cooperative member fills out a scorecard for their own processing volume. Not a group average — their personal numbers. The individual calculation is more motivating than a collective average.
Leave behind: blank Profitability Scorecards with the cooperative
Wk 2Day 14
Community day
Organized by the host community. Attend, participate, listen. Do not bring work.
Wk 3Day 15
Test — Two-Box traders show their boxes
Each Two-Box trader from Day 3 shows their boxes and explains what goes in each one. Ask: has anything changed since you started? The answers at Day 15 are often the most compelling evidence of impact in the whole program.
Wk 3Day 16
VSLA first official meeting — you observe only
The group runs the first official meeting. You observe. Do not facilitate. If they make a procedural error that doesn't affect the financial integrity, let it pass — they will self-correct. Only intervene if money is at risk.
Wk 3Day 17
Visual ledger review
Traders show their records from the past week. What did they track? What did they miss? What pattern can they see? Traders who have been tracking for two weeks can often already identify their best-selling day of the week.
Wk 3Day 18
Documentation — laminate everything
Write the VSLA constitution template and visual ledger template in final form. Laminate the PIN Safety cards. These laminated documents are designed to outlast the visit by years.
Leave behind: laminated VSLA constitution template, visual ledger template, PIN Safety cards
Wk 3Day 19
Teach the teachers
Present to BRAC microfinance staff and any market association leaders. They run the next training — to the next cohort of traders, in Krio, without you. This is the multiplier that makes a 3-week visit have a 3-year impact.
Wk 3Day 20
Commitment ceremony
Two-Box traders commit to maintaining the separation for the next 90 days. The VSLA group commits to meeting independently. Cassava cooperative commits to running the profitability calculation before next harvest.
Wk 3Day 21
Depart — tools stay
Leave Two-Box sets, visual ledger stamps, VSLA ledger book, and PIN Safety cards. Confirm WhatsApp contact with the VSLA secretary and at least two of the Two-Box traders. Depart.
Leave behind: Two-Box sets, visual ledger stamps, VSLA ledger book, PIN Safety laminated cards
08 Success metrics
30 Days
- At least 5 traders maintaining Two-Box separation
- VSLA has held 3 meetings independently
- At least 1 cooperative has run the profitability calculation
- Mobile money PIN safety practiced by participants
90 Days
- VSLA first loan issued and repaid
- At least 1 trader reports measurable business capital growth
- Cassava cooperative decision on processing based on real calculation
12 Months
- VSLA completing its first annual share-out
- At least 1 cooperative accessing WFP or market buyer directly
- Visual ledger in independent use without external prompting