Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Studies ISSN: 2663-7197 DOI: 10.32996/jhsss Journal Homepage: www.al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/jhsss JHSSS AL-KINDI CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Copyright: © 2022 the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Published by Al-Kindi Centre for Research and Development, London, United Kingdom. Page | 54 | RESEARCH ARTICLE Brief Review of Informal Financial Services Typologies in Zambia: Investing in Sustainable Savings Groups Jack Bbabbi Mukulu 1 ✉ and Abubaker Qutieshat 2 1 University of Zambia, Graduate school of Business, Lusaka, Zambia 2 Associate Member of Staff & Honorary Researcher, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK Corresponding Author: Jack Bbabbi Mukulu, E-mail: jack.bbabbi@gmail.com | ABSTRACT Informal financial services (IFSs) provide various types of investment avenues for both rural and urban populations in Zambia. This paper is a critical review of the sustainability of various informal investment typologies Zambians has been using and adopting to increase their financial resources and solve their livelihoods and social issues in the process. An evaluation of why people and organizations opt for specific financial services that come in the form of savings and lending groups will be discussed in detail to understand if they have been meeting people's expectations. The paper derives its data from various studies in the past 10 years that emanates from Zambia and Sub-Saharan Africa. While the sustainability of various typologies of informal financial services is broad, they are measured through risks associated, savings policies adopted, group loan guarantees and flexibility, interest and transactional expenses enforcement, income-generating, wealth creation and any social capital investment. The research reveals that limited studies have looked at various typologies of savings and lending groups, including evaluating their sustainability. This study helps in decision making for anyone or organization who would want to join or start a savings group in Zambia and key parameters to follow. | KEYWORDS Sustainability, Savings Typologies, Informal Financial Services, Informal Savings Mechanisms, Zambia | ARTICLE DOI: 10.32996/jhsss.2021.3.12.6 1. Introduction Informal financial services are emerging as the best options for rural and urban Zambians to improve their income sources and access quick loans. In Zambia, SGs have grown rapidly. By 2018 there were a total of 331,704 people in 74 districts of Zambia belonging to SGs (SaveNet, 2018). This had been due to challenges faced by Zambians when it comes to access financial services, which the Zambian Government has not been aware of. The first-ever National financial Inclusion Strategy that was adopted in 2017, seeking to increase by 80% the number of people accessing various financial services, explained this (MoF, 2017). This came in to promote both formal and informal easy access to various products and services for universal access to financial services and increased financial inclusion. In Zambia, informal financial services come in various types, including village savings groups, village banks, Chilimba and Kalomba. These organizations have different structures that determine how they are coordinated and run to ensure their sustainability. It has also been observed in Zambia that these organization has been using the names interchangeable even though they are different forms of savings and loans entities in nature of their operations, leading to confusion among users. All various forms of savings and lending groups are formed to improve the member’s livelihoods, poverty alleviation and promote social inclusion. Village banking is one of the informal financial services that have greatly reduced poverty in the past while promoting social development and economic empowerment of poor women (Mashigo & Kabir, 2016). In improving the livelihoods potential of poor households, the availability of informal financial services has proved to be key for community development and individual poverty alleviation and improving social status (Greene and Berroth, 2002).