Nigeria's traditional rotating savings group, digitized on Stellar using Soroban smart contracts.
# π€ AjoChain β On-Chain Cooperative Savings Protocol
**AjoChain** is a decentralized protocol digitizing the traditional African rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) modelβcommonly known as *Esusu* or *Ajo*βusing Stellar and Soroban smart contracts.
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## π The Problem
Across Africa, informal cooperative savings groups empower communities to pool capital and access lump sums of cash. However, these systems rely entirely on a central human coordinator. This creates a single point of failure: coordinators can mismanage funds, abscond, or make human errors, breaking the foundational chain of trust.
## π‘ The Solution
AjoChain removes the need for a central coordinator by replacing them with a trustless Soroban smart contract.
- **π Transparent:** Every cycle and contribution is fully verifiable on-chain.
- **β‘ Automated:** The smart contract auto-distributes the pot to the designated member per round.
- **π Inclusive:** Built on Stellar to ensure near-zero micro-transaction fees, making it genuinely accessible to everyday users.
- **π‘οΈ Secure:** Collateral vault prevents rational defaults; governance timelock prevents admin abuse.
- **β Merit-Based:** On-chain reputation system rewards consistent participation with access to premium pools.
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## ποΈ Architecture
AjoChain is a modular protocol composed of **5 Soroban smart contracts**:
```
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β Frontend (Next.js 15) β
β Dashboard β Pool Explorer β Create Pool β Profile β
ββββββββββββββββββββββββ¬ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
β
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β Stellar / Soroban β
β β
β ββββββββββββ ββββββββββββ ββββββββββββββββ β
β β Factory ββββ Pool ββββ Collateral β β
β β Registry β β Lifecycleβ β Vault β β
β β¦