“However even with all today’s challenges, SACCOs or Credit Unions are arguably the brightest stars in the financial services industry and that comes from their historic and continued focus on what really matters, service to members.” Excerpted from The History of NACSCUZ by Mr. Owen Mabukwa – Chairman of the National Association of Cooperative Savings and Credit Unions of Zimbabwe (NACSCUZ) read more here
Quotation: Share the message. Make people appreciate the value of the SACCO Business Model
“If we are a continent of 1,3 billion Africans, …it doesn’t matter how many congresses we have, it doesn’t matter how many people attend our congresses, even if we were to bring 2000 to fill this hall, but if you cannot (go back and) share the message, if we cannot make people appreciate the value (and basics of our existence) we will not go far …If you picked anything in my presentation. I request that you go home with one thing. If you like something you can talk about it to the next person in the market. If you believe...
Best Practice in the development of cooperatives
By Helmut Pabst, DGRV, German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation Introduction This article came from Brian Gately and was shared among SACCO Development Educators in September 2017. Permission was granted by the author to re-publish it in The SACCONSTELLATION, a SACCO magazine DE project for Southern Africa. From: Brian Gately To: [SACCO] Development Educators Listserv Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2017 05:14:12 -0400 Subject: Credit Unions/SACCOs in Vietnam Hello! WOCCU’s German sister agency, DGRV, also works overseas to help develop credit unions (/ SACCOs). A German friend at DGRV, Helmut Pabst, is now stationed in Vietnam, and I assist him at times with English translations. My wife...
Quotation – Tell the Credit Union story
Go and tell the Credit Union story – the SACCO value proposition. Arm yourself with this story, 110 million Americans are Credit Union members – what a big story to tell. Members are the main advocates, they should tell what Credit Unions have done for them. W e e x i s t f o r a r e a s o n y o u k n o w , t h e p h i l o s o p h y of how credit unions came to be; stories matter. These stories are valuable. These are the...
Competitive Edge through Cooperation: The Financial Cooperative System in Germany
As an individual, one is a nobody in today’s competitive economy, but grouped together in a cooperative effort there is a chance to be successful… Mr. Ludwig Ehard is the DGRV’s Director Regional Program – Africa, he delivered an appropriately titled presentation that provided an enlightened perspective on the competitiveness of cooperation, especially as it was the Germans who pioneered and shaped the Credit Union/SACCO business model way back in the mid-1800s, they the Germans have perfected the model over the years and they continue to be a paragon of excellence of the same in the 21st century. Mr. Ludwig...
Leveraging on Technology to Expand Financial Inclusion and Growth | A SACCOs’ perspective
Mr. Polycup Osero, the Fintech Group’s Head of sales and marketing flew all the way from Kenya to Zimbabwe in November 2016 to grace the occasion of The Harare SACCOs Multi-Stakeholder Conference where he delivered a keynote presentation entitled: Leveraging on Technology to Expand Financial Inclusion: A SACCOs’ perspective. Mr. Osero showed the audience that of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) launched in 2015, SDG number one is on ending poverty in all forms everywhere, and that one of the targets of this goal is to improve access to economic resources, financial services and microfinance. He indicated...
Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO) Education
I met Mr. Robert Kofi Ngissah (who had come all the way from Ghana to Kenya) at Diani Beach Resort in Kwale County – Mombasa in February 2017. We were both in the Credit Unions Development Educators class of 2017, simply known as DE class of 2017 in short. We had been drawn to Kenya by the desire to perfect our SACCO craft, professionalise our practice and become certified Credit Union / SACCO professionals. Credit Unions are also known as SACCOs all over Africa, which is an acronym that stands for Savings and Credit Cooperatives. Mr. Robert Kofi Ngissah, ADE,...
SACCOs in the National Financial Inclusion Strategy of Zimbabwe | A perspective of The Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe
Mr. Simbarashe Mashonganyika from The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was one of the keynote speakers at the 1st Harare SACCOs Multi-Stakeholder Conference held at the Management Training Bureau in November 2016. Mr. Mashonganyika highlighted that one of the prerequisite of sustainable economic development was ACCESS to appropriate financial services and that was the main thrust of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) in which SACCOs and their national trade association NACSCUZ were a key stakeholder. The vision and strategic goals of the NFIS are derived from the national aspiration to increase ACCESS to 90% by 2020. He revealed four pillars...