Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda).
Search Results for: SACCO
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Uganda’s Troubled Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) to be Audited by the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU), a Trade Association
The Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU), a trade association, is to audit the Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in the country, in light of the recent financial scandals that have dented the public’s faith in these microfinance organisations.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: The Probity of Microfinance Firms in Uganda Takes Another Downward Turn, with a Savings and Co-Operative Credit Organisation (SACCO) Suspended and Shut Down.
The reputation of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Uganda took another turn for the worse following the police investigation into four savings and co-operative credit organisations (SACCOs) suspected of fraud, as reported in MicroCapital on 21 September 2007. The investigation had already prompted a downturn in public confidence, with the Grand Comedy theater in the country satirising the “fraudulent” microfinance firms on stage, as we reported on 17 October 2007.
Market Research by Consumer Insight Reveals Kenyans Prefer Savings and Cooperative Credit Associations (SACCOs) Over Commercial Banks
Market research agency Consumer Insight discovered that 60% of Kenyan borrowers last year did not rely on commercial banks and instead chose alternate lenders such as Savings and Cooperative Credit Associations (SACCOs). The agency also states “almost 50% of the upper social economic classes do not have a bank account” and “72% of average Kenyan families earn less than 32,000 shillings (USD $440) per month.”
This data was gathered by the Target Group Index (TGI), an annual national survey of consumer behavior. In June and July, over 8,000 Kenyans over the age of 15 filled out questionnaires for the 2006 TGI. The study gathered data from residents of urban and peri-urban areas of Kenya: Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Meru, Nyeri, Thika, Machakos, Kisii, Mumias, Kakamega and Voi.
Continue reading “Market Research by Consumer Insight Reveals Kenyans Prefer Savings and Cooperative Credit Associations (SACCOs) Over Commercial Banks”
Triodos Family of Funds Keeps Pace in First Quarter with New Investments in Prizma, Bandari Sacco, AMRET, and Acleda Bank Totaling Over US$5 Million
Dutch Bank, Triodos, has long sponsored socially-responsible investment funds with a particular tilt towards microfinance. The Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation is a joint initiative between the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation and Triodos Bank. It uses special savings accounts to fund microfinance investments and fair trade producers. The fund had EUR 24 million in assets at the end of 2005.
Continue reading “Triodos Family of Funds Keeps Pace in First Quarter with New Investments in Prizma, Bandari Sacco, AMRET, and Acleda Bank Totaling Over US$5 Million”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Kacha Gets Regulator Approval to Roll Out Mobile Money App in Ethiopia
Kacha Digital Finance Services, an Ethiopian financial technology (fintech) company, recently received approval from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) to offer services such as remittances, bill payments, airtime purchases and accepting merchant payments through its eponymous mobile app. The firm, which
SPECIAL REPORT: ¡Viva el Cooperativismo – A Powerful and Efficient Way of Helping One Another!
According to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a credit union is “a customer/member-owned financial cooperative, democratically controlled by its members, and operated to maximize the economic benefit of its members by providing financial services at competitive and fair rates.” In short, savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) are member-based institutions that intermediate savings into loans, enabling low-income populations to accumulate savings and create a source of credit at reasonable rates. Cooperatives represent an economically viable avenue for changing people’s lives, based on the powerful idea that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Executives of Uganda Microfinance Support Centre Jailed on Charges of Fraud, Embezzlement of $3m
Leaders of the Ugandan government’s Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) recently were released on bail after being held in prison on charges relating to the theft of UGX 10.8 billion (USD 2.9 million) that had been supplied by the Ugandan government for disbursal to the Uganda Teachers’ Cooperative Savings and Credit Union (UTC). The allegations consist of embezzlement and conspiracy to defraud,
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 10th Biennial Microfinance Conference; November 28 – December 1, 2018; Mekelle, Ethiopia
Summary of Event: Arranged by the Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI), this event will cover research on topics such as rural financial services, digital financial services, social performance management, product innovation, and responsible finance. Sessions will also cover small and medium-sized enterprises, youth finance, renewable-energy finance, guarantee schemes, savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs), and value-chain financing.
Background on Organizers:
Established in 1999, AEMFI is a nonprofit organization providing a platform for microfinance practitioners to work towards the expansion of the microfinance industry in Ethiopia. In addition to individuals and organizations indirectly involved in microfinance, AEMFI has 35 member microfinance institutions (MFIs) as of 2018. These organizations provide credit, savings, money transfer, and pension-payment services in eight of the 11 administrative units of Ethiopia.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Unrealistic Expectations in Impact Investing, Valuing Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), Banking Costs in Kenya
“Marginalized Returns,” by Mara Bolis and Chris West, published by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2017, 3 pages, available at:
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/marginalized_returns
The authors of this article cite the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN’s) “2016 Annual Impact Investor Survey,” which reports that 84 percent of 158 investors who seek “measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return” in particular are expecting “risk-adjusted market-rate returns.” Ms Bolis and Dr West state that netting annual returns of 10 to 15 percent would
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwanda Cooperative Agency to Establish Cooperative Bank by 2018
The Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA), a regulatory institution of the Rwandan government, is establishing a cooperative bank to provide “long-term” loans to farmers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Association of Microfinance Institutions of Rwanda Rolls Out “Responsible Finance Through Local Leadership and Learning Program”
In partnership with the US-based, nonprofit Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network and The MasterCard Foundation of Canada, the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Rwanda (AMIR) recently rolled out the Responsible Finance Through Local Leadership and Learning Program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) Rolls Out Electronic Data Warehouse to Automate Reporting by Microfinance, Traditional Financial Institutions
The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR), the central bank of the country, recently implemented an electronic data warehouse (EDW) system to automate the reporting processes of 14 financial services providers, three of which are microfinance institutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financial Technology Start-up iNuka Pap of Kenya Selected For First Barclays Africa Accelerator Program
iNuka Pap Limited, a Kenyan start-up technology company that enables members of local Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) “to conveniently deposit, withdraw and access instant micro-loans as well as access other credit services”[3], is one of ten early-stage financial technology firms selected to participate in the first Barclays Africa Accelerator program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell Investments Acquires Minority Stake in Microfinance Software Firm Musoni
Goodwell Investments, a for-profit social investment company based in the Netherlands, has invested an undisclosed sum to acquire a “significant minority stake” in Musoni Services, a Dutch microfinance software company with operations in Myanmar and nine African countries [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Uganda Slow to Apply for Credit From Microfinance Support Center (MSC)
The Microfinance Support Center (MSC), an arm of the government of Uganda, reportedly is urging groups such as village savings and credit cooperative organizations (SACCOs), microfinance institutions, and small and medium enterprises, to apply for credit from the company “yet demand for it has been low” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya’s Credit Information Sharing (CIS) Mechanism Expanded to Deposit-Taking Microfinance Institutions, Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies, Expected to Lower Interest Rates
A Credit Information Sharing (CIS) feature that was implemented by Kenyan financial institutions in 2010 reportedly has been expanded to include deposit-taking microfinance institutions (DTMs) and savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOS) in an effort to increase information sharing among financial institutions [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nonperforming Microfinance Loans in Rwanda Drop from 12% to 8.5%
The nonperforming loan ratio of the microfinance sector in Rwanda reportedly has dropped from 12 percent as of December 2011 to 8.5 percent at the end of 2012.