My Grandmother Ran Ajo. I Built the Version Where the Pot Can't Walk Away
This is a submission for Weekend Challenge: Generosity Edition What I Built My late grandmother was a trader. She ran ajo for years, the way a lot of Nigerian market women did, and used her payout round to restock her shop. More stock meant more sales meant more saved for the next round. It worked, until the round it didn't: she told me about a time the person holding the pot borrowed against it…
My grandmother ran a trading circle known as "ajo" for many years, a common practice among Nigerian market women. She used her earnings to restock her shop, with the goal of increasing sales and saving for the next round. However, one time the person holding the pot borrowed against the funds to resolve a personal issue, but was unable to repay it in time.
The circle absorbed the loss, which is the typical failure mode in such arrangements. This isn't due to fraud, but rather a member holding money that doesn't belong to them, under pressure with no external enforcement. The "ajo" system isn't charity; every participant gets their money back plus an extra round early. Yet, it's an ethical and inclusive method of financial inclusion for people like market traders, mostly women, who have traditionally been underserved by traditional banking systems.
My grandmother didn't have a bank account for this; she relied on her circle. I aimed to create a modern version of "ajo" called "Ajo Chain" to address this specific scenario. After much deliberation, I established one rule: if a technology was deleted, and something critically broke, it would be removed. Indeed, one technology was removed due to this rule.
Ajo Chain utilizes Solana's blockchain to replace the need for a single trusted individual. It employs an escrow program that cannot be manipulated or disappear. Contributions are released only when all members have paid, and any missed deadlines are permanently flagged. The program can even detect if a contribution doesn't arrive, but cannot determine the reason behind it.
This triggers a note from a Gemini agent, which is then reviewed by a human moderator. The program runs on a Solana infrastructure, ensuring transparency and accountability. The entire system is built on a Solana program with five simple instructions: create a group, contribute, mark a default, and release a payout. Each of these actions is strictly regulated and monitored on-chain. The entire system can be tested using a local validator, ensuring robustness and reliability.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
