Dango seeks to stimulate economic growth by reducing transational risk  for informal businesses.   It provides a tool for users  to assess counterparty credit risk for informal credit transactions. Dango is a mobile phone-based business network for informal sector businesspeople, customers, and advertisers in developing countries.   Like a text message-based LinkedIn for the developing world, Dango allows users to create profiles with name, location, and business information, link to other network members, and search member profiles.   In Kenya, where Dango will launch, 86% of  employment takes place  in the informal sector!    These people do 93% of all business transactions  in cash.  They frequently  provide  or receive informal trade credit - 74% of all  loans in Kenya  are issued between shopkeeps or suppliers and customers.  These  transactions are almost never afforded  legal protection to enforce repayment or tools to assess counterparty  credit risk.    This exposes  informal businesses  to enormous risk and restricts their universe of  business  partners to only the most trusted friends and family.   Dango gives members a tool for reference-checking new business partners and expanding their trusted business network. Via SMS, users can search the Dango community by business type, location, or name.   If they are members, their search will return other members meeting their criteria who are most closely connected on the network, along with the name of the "connector". For advertisers, Dango provides one of the first ever platforms for direct marketing to the informal sector, allowing advertisers to target specific demographics using broadcast SMS and search-based advertisements.