Saccos Catalyzing Change in The Lives of Members

Harnessing Co-op Potential:Saccos Catalyzing Change in The Lives of Members

By June Njoroge

The indelible footprint made by the Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (SACCOS), in the lives of millions of members, across the country and beyond is remarkable; which is why the Co-operative movement has been burgeoning by the day.

According to new data by the World Council of Credit Unions(WOCCU), the global credit union movement has increased membership by 59% to 291 million over the past decade.

The Council affirms an addition of 107 million new members in the last decade, with 17 million members in 2019 to reach the current 291 million from 86,055 Saccos in 118 countries. In 2019, Credit Union assets, increased by more than 26% worldwide, while savings, loans and reserves also grew.

Africa registered a 143% growth, recording the second-largest increase, after Latin America with a 153% growth, according to the new data.

Africa has 37.8 million Sacco members, mobilizing savings of over $10.6 billion and $11.7 billion in loans. Kenya holds the largest co-operative movement in Africa, ranking 7th globally, with 8.5 million members drawn from 8,033 Saccos and an asset portfolio of Kshs1 trillion.

Kenya recently scooped the 2020 Council’s membership growth awards, registering a 14.2% growth. Ethiopia has the secondlargest Co-operative sector with a membership of 4.7 million. Rwanda comes in third with 3.7 million members, Tanzania 2.4 million members and Uganda 1 million.

New data from SASRA, additionally indicates that in 2019, the total assets portfolio of 172 DT Saccos reached Kshs 556 billion, which was a 12.4% increase from Kshs 495 billion of 2018.A total of 31 Saccos control over 70% of the total assets. Total deposits stood at Kshs 380 billion from Kshs 341 billion of 2018, recording a 11.2% increase. Gross loans portfolio stood at Kshs 419 billion in 2019, a 12% growth from Kshs 374 billion of 2018.Net loans and other credit advances, grew from Kshs 359 billion in 2018 to Kshs 400 billion of 2019.

The snowballing of the movement will continue, with Saccos responding to the needs of their members thereby economically empowering them. In different corners of the globe, the Co-operative movement has been growing, the WOCCU 2019 Statistical report indicates that in Asia, membership went up by 81%,48% in Oceania,30% in North America and 8% in Europe.

The Council has a target of increasing membership globally to 260 million members by 2020 and to this effect set challenge 2025, on the digitalization of the global co-operative movement to increase membership. According to the study the cooperatives that had registered exponential growth were those that utilized online and mobile channels to deliver services.

From the Big 4 Agenda to Vision 2030, Co-operatives are central to the achievement of both initiatives. Co-operatives are also key vehicles towards the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

Climate action is another key agenda that Saccos are engaged in to combat the climate change crisis, to help conserve the environment.

Co-operatives are transforming the lives of millions across the globe through their different products and services but especially through lending. Governments across the continent are in cognizance of the integral role played by Co-operatives and continually inject support to the lucrative sector.