SACCOs key to Ugandan control of the economy, says former BoU Governor
KYANKWANZI, July 21, 2026 — Uganda’s Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies [ SACCOs must be strengthened and consolidated if Ugandans are to gain greater control of the country’s economy, former Bank of Uganda [BoU] Deputy Governor Prof. Ezra Suruma has said.
Suruma noted that about 80 percent of Uganda’s financial sector is foreign-owned, describing the situation as a critical challenge that the country must confront.
“The fact that 80 percent of the financial sector is in foreign hands is a critical problem,” he said, adding that it reflects a wider global challenge of capital accumulation, where wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of a few, thereby widening inequality.
According to Suruma, the problem is compounded by a SACCO sector that remains fragmented and has struggled to achieve the scale needed to benefit from economies of scale.
“I see them crumbling in my village and in other villages. I see them crumbling,” he said.
To address the challenge, Suruma called for stronger integration within the cooperative movement through a unified structure capable of providing oversight, technical support and strategic direction to grassroots SACCOs.
“There is a need for some unifying power, some unifying control, some unifying board. I wish my village SACCO was part of a larger body to which it was accountable,” he said.
He argued that such a structure would help address the governance and management challenges that continue to affect many village and parish-level SACCOs.
“Where is the solution to the management problem at the village or parish level?” he asked.
Suruma, a former finance minister, also recalled that Parliament amended the Cooperative Societies Act in 2019 to provide the legal framework for establishing a Cooperative Bank.
“We keep talking about the Cooperative Bank, but nothing seems to happen,” he said.
In anticipation of the bank’s establishment, the cooperative movement launched the National Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Limited on September 18, 2025.
Suruma said the initiative demonstrates that the movement recognises the need to build a sustainable cooperative financial ecosystem capable of supporting Ugandans in what he described as an economic struggle for greater financial independence.
He further argued that the SACCO sector cannot grow sustainably unless it is firmly embedded in the productive economy.
“We have an unemployment problem. If our financial institutions are not able to increase employment, then the economy will fail. The purpose of money is to increase production,” he said.
Suruma urged regulators to recognise the sector’s role in promoting production and job creation rather than focusing predominantly on prudential requirements.
He criticised what he described as a heavy-handed regulatory approach, arguing that institutions such as the Bank of Uganda place too much emphasis on raising capital requirements instead of helping financial institutions grow.
Suruma made the remarks on Monday while addressing participants at the on-going first SACCO Leadership Summit organised by the Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union Limited [UCSCU], the national umbrella body for Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies in Uganda.
The summit is taking place at the National Leadership Institute [NALI], Kyankwanzi, bringing together hundreds of SACCO leaders from across Uganda for a week-long leadership training focused on building a resilient and sustainable cooperative sector.
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