Update from Kiva

In early 2008, Life in Africa closed their operations and stopped administering loans in Kampala, Uganda. By June 2008, Life in Africa sent all outstanding loan repayments to Kiva, and they were returned to Kiva lender accounts.

Original description
 

Life in Africa is both a virtual and a physical space that belongs to a member owned community enterprise in Uganda. A group of buildings at Life in Africa's WE Center in Kampala houses a loan programme, craft workshops, an education programme, IT training and savings programmes for both adults and children (the latter is particularly unique here in Africa). It is a place for Ugandans to connect with each other and opportunities in the outside world to plan for a secure future.

In it's relationship with Kiva, LiA is pioneering a community guaranteed lending model. All loan applications listed at Kiva have been vetted, reviewed and approved by a committee of WE Center Kampala members that includes would-be borrowers before they apply. An ability to repay, an established level of trust and WE team participation, and attendance at 4 loan information workshops (including a review) are pre-requisites for applying for a loan. Each case is reviewed very seriously, since the WE Center Kampala community agrees to back the loans listed at Kiva with a 100% guarantee. Once a loan is approved by the review committee, the borrower is asked to announce which WE Team they designate to receive 25% of the interest to be paid on the loan. This ensures that the LiA loan program benefits the entire LiA community in a bottom-up, democratic way.

LiA's loan applications are prepared and presented for community review by LiA members who are part of LiA's Internet4Change job creation program. Trained i4c Agents earn 25% of the interest on their client's payments each month. In addition to loan applications, i4c Agents also create a blog for each borrowing member that includes supplemental cultural content contributed by the borrower to LiA's growing collection of grassroots voices online. By the end of 2006, i4c Agents hope to learn how to sell individual member craft products directly from their blogs.

Life in Africa job creation programs began in Gulu in war-torn Northern Uganda in March 2006. LiA anticipates that some WE Center Gulu members will be earning enough to service small loans by the end of the year.