With the mention of community currency, one might think that the community in mention has chosen to break from the legal Kenyan currency.
This has, however, not been the case in Kibera. Late last year, November 2015, Lindi village developed its local currency that was branded as 'Lindi-Pesa' to supplement their local economy.
The Lindi network comprised of local primary schools, health centres and hundreds of business entities that subscribe to the currency. Business analysts said that local currencies in the slum residential area brought a radical change more than what people could think about sustainable regional development.
As a social and economic development tool, Lindi pesa offers an innovative and reliable way to improve local business conditions. For instance, a person can work at a local firm and get paid using Lindi pesa. The worker can then proceed to a local school to pay fees for his/ her school children.
Local currencies have in the past surfaced in Mombasa, where the local residents developed Bangla-Pesa to offer local business communities an avenue to create their own tailor-made mutual credit and clearing (barter exchange) system. This has enabled communities to build economic resilience and self-funded community-based programs.
Community-based currencies have notably represented the foundation of what is rapidly growing to become a global movement towards democratised and decentralised monetary valuation systems.