Digitizing an Age-Old Practice: What Muhammad Yunus Taught Me About Financial Inclusion and the Vision Behind EsusuHive

Anyone who knows me well knows that there are very few individuals I consider true celebrities — people whose work I deeply admire and whose perspectives I would cherish the opportunity to explore in person. Muhammad Yunus is one of those rare figures.

As the founder of EsusuHive , my mission to positively transform financial inclusion and community finance has been shaped in no small part by Mr. Yunus’s life and legacy. He didn’t invent cooperative lending or microlending, but he was the first to scale those ideas in a way that transformed millions of lives and made the impact visible across societies. His work reminds us that innovation is not always about invention — but about impact at scale.

At EsusuHive , we are guided by the same principle: we’re not inventing Rotational Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCA) — known locally as Esusu, Ajo, Susu, and by other names around the world — but reimagining and digitizing them for the 21st century. These systems have empowered communities to save together, support each other, and access funds without interest for generations. What we seek to do is amplify that potential by bringing it into the digital age with security, transparency, and accessibility.

Our Mission: Empowering Community Savings Through Technology

EsusuHive exists to unleash the power of community-driven savings on a global stage. We provide a trusted, digital platform where anyone from anywhere can participate in collective savings groups — whether with people they know or with broader networks — without the traditional barriers of geography or trust that have historically limited informal systems.

Our vision is to modernize the age-old practice of ROSCA and make it accessible, safe, and scalable. By digitizing contribution tracking, automating group management, and making participation possible from virtually any device, we are helping members build saving discipline, access lump sums when needed, and strengthen financial independence.

This digital transformation is not merely a technological upgrade — it is a cultural and economic one. It empowers individuals who might otherwise be excluded from formal financial systems, giving them tools to save, plan, and build wealth without paying interest or depending on traditional banks.

Bridging Trust and Inclusion at Scale

One of the core innovations at EsusuHive is a system that enables anyone to join a savings group, whether with people they know or with larger communities that don’t share prior relationships. This model extends the classic ROSCA concept into a broader, more inclusive financial ecosystem — without losing the spirit of mutual support and shared responsibility that has defined it for centuries.

This model also addresses real challenges. Many people want to participate in group savings schemes but lack a trusted network or sufficient contributors. By introducing a secure, digital framework, we reduce risk and broaden participation — effectively opening informal finance to the digital economy.

But change on this scale does not come without challenges. Presenting this idea to potential partners, particularly traditional financial institutions, has revealed a natural tension: digitizing a deeply communal, non-institutional practice puts stakeholders into uncharted territory where uncertainty often outweighs enthusiasm. Yet true innovation always carries uncertainty — and the potential for outsized impact.

Why This Matters: Financial Inclusion at the Core

Like Mr. Yunus’s work, the standard we are raising with EsusuHive aims to contribute to better financial outcomes, stronger communities, and more inclusive economies. Where formal financial systems have sometimes excluded the unbanked or underbanked, digitized community finance offers a powerful alternative path — one built upon collective responsibility, accessible technology, and real economic agency.

For now, we are starting in Nigeria — a country rich with savings culture and innovative financial thinking. My hope is that Nigeria will not only adopt this model but lead the world into a new era of inclusive finance that celebrates tradition while harnessing the power of technology.

Because true scale does not come from replacing the old with the new — it comes from elevating what already works, and giving it the tools to change the world. That is the vision of EsusuHive.

Mr. Yunus