The ajo our grandmothers trusted — now in your pocket.

Ajora is a digital savings platform for the rotating savings circles Nigerians know as ajo, esusu, adashe and isusu. Members contribute on a schedule, every contribution is recorded where the whole circle can see it, and each round one member collects the pool — with the money held at a CBN-licensed partner bank, never by Ajora.

Ajo itself is a good system — the danger has always been how it is run. One person holds everyone's money, and the only record is a notebook only they can read. Ajora changes both. Your money sits in an account in your own name at a CBN-licensed partner bank, so Ajora never holds it. Every payment goes on a record the whole circle can see. If a member stops paying, new members collect later in the line, and a small safety pool fills the gap so the circle keeps moving — and that pool money comes back to you if it is not used. All of this makes the risk much smaller. It cannot remove risk completely — no savings system can — and we would rather tell you that plainly.

Your money sits in an account in your own name at a CBN-licensed partner bank. Ajora never holds it. Every contribution and payout goes on a record the whole circle can see, so nothing moves quietly.

No. Ajora is a technology company. Banking services come from a licensed, CBN-regulated partner bank, and Ajora does not hold customer funds. The footer says this in legal language; this is the plain version.

No. Ajora opens one in your name at the partner bank when you join. You can add money from any bank app, by USSD, or through a POS agent near you.

Joining is free. Ajora charges a service fee of 2% of each contribution — and the first 500 members pay zero service fee for their whole first year. Each contribution also includes a 1% safety-pool deposit that protects the circle and is refunded if it goes unused. There are no other charges from Ajora.

Several protections mean you lose less. Newcomers collect later in the rotation, a safety pool covers a missed contribution so the circle keeps moving, and anything unused from that pool is refunded. This makes the risk smaller — it does not remove it completely, and we would rather say so plainly.

Yes. Bring the same people and keep the rotation order you already agreed. What you lose is the notebook, the chasing, and the arguments about who paid.

The money talk, yes. Today someone has to announce every payment and chase every reminder in the group chat. On Ajora, the board shows who has paid and whose turn is next the moment it happens, reminders go out automatically, and every payout carries a record the whole circle sees. And for circle matters, there's a group chat inside Ajora — so money conversations stay next to the money. Keep your WhatsApp group for the gist — Ajora handles the money talk.

They are names for the same tradition: ajo and esusu among the Yoruba, isusu among the Igbo, adashe among the Hausa. A group agrees an amount and a rhythm, everyone contributes each round, and each round one member takes the whole pool. Ajora is that same rotating savings circle, kept on a record everyone can see.

No. Ajora is not an investment and pays no returns. Our protections make the risks of saving in a circle smaller — they do not remove them completely, and we would rather say that plainly than promise what no one can.

The founding cohort is forming now. We are still building, and we would rather get the banking partnership and the legal groundwork right than rush. Waitlist members hear first.