A chairperson for the WhatsApp age.
AjoAutomate is a Nigerian company building a digital version of Ajo, the rotating savings circle, that lives where the circle already lives: in WhatsApp.
The name
In a traditional Ajo, the person who runs the circle is the Alaga, Yoruba for "chairperson". They keep the notebook, collect from everyone, remind the slow payers and hand the pool to whoever's turn it is. It is a job built on trust and a lot of unpaid admin.
Our bot is called Alaga because that is the job it does. It is the conversational voice every member talks to, one-to-one, on the AjoAutomate WhatsApp number. The chat header says "AjoAutomate"; Alaga is the name you'll see inside the messages.
What we automate
- Tracking who has paid. Every contribution, whether by card or by transfer, lands in one ledger that any member can open from their chat.
- Collecting contributions. Cards authorized through Paystack are charged automatically on the due date. Members who prefer transfers get their own dedicated account number, and the ledger updates the moment money arrives.
- Paying out. When a cycle's pool is complete, the payout goes to that cycle's turn by bank transfer, minus our 1.5% fee.
- The awkward reminders. A failed charge triggers smaller retries and a private message to that member. The bot never announces anyone's status publicly.
What we deliberately leave to people
Your WhatsApp group stays yours. The host creates and runs it like any normal group, and Alaga is not a member of it. It cannot read what is posted there and cannot post into it.
This is a choice, not a gap. The group's job in an Ajo is social: people who have real money riding on each other keep each other honest. We think that works better when it stays human. It also keeps us on the right side of Nigerian data protection law, which would not comfortably allow a bot to broadcast who has and hasn't paid to a whole group without each person's consent every time.
The same principle applies to shortfalls. If a pool is short at payout time, AjoAutomate does not quietly pay out less. It flags the host, and the host decides.
What it is built on
| Piece | What it does |
|---|---|
| WhatsApp Business | Where every conversation happens. Setup forms are native WhatsApp Flows; links open in WhatsApp's own browser. |
| Paystack | Card authorization and auto-debit, dedicated virtual account numbers for transfers, and payouts. Card details are entered on Paystack's pages, never in the chat. |
| Alaga | The bot persona, orchestrated on Langflow with an AI language model behind the conversation. |
| A single ledger | One database that records who is in which circle, who has paid, and whose turn is next. It is the source of truth for every message Alaga sends. |
The company
AjoAutomate is registered in Nigeria with the Corporate Affairs Commission, RC 7088448, and operates from 25 Olayemi Odutayo Street, Ikosi Ketu, Lagos State. You can reach us at [email protected] or through the contact page.