Esusu

Esusu is a decentralized savings platform designed to bring the traditional African savings systems (Ajo/Esusu) to the blockchain. By leveraging Celo's blockchain, this platform enables users to create and manage savings groups where participants contribute funds periodically. The platform uses smart contracts to automate savings contributions and distributions, ensuring transparency and security. Users can create savings plans, join existing ones, and monitor their progress directly through a user-friendly interface. Esusu aims to empower communities by providing an accessible, decentralized financial tool that works across borders.

Esusu is built on the Celo blockchain, using Solidity for the smart contracts that manage the savings groups. The frontend is developed using React and Next.js, providing a seamless user experience for managing savings. We employed the Hardhat framework for compiling, testing, and deploying the smart contracts. The integration with MiniPay ensures easy access to the platform. We utilized ethers.js for blockchain interactions on the frontend. Additionally, we took advantage of Celo’s lightweight identity and payment APIs to enhance user experience. One notable aspect of the project is the use of decentralized state channels to ensure low-cost, instant transactions, optimizing user interactions even in low-bandwidth environments.