Microfinance and Savings Groups Conference 2024:Uhuru CEO urges cooperators to stick to cooperative principles

KAMPALA, July 18, 2024 – Cooperatives in Uganda should remain stuck to the principles of cooperative identity and make use of the available digital platforms to enhance their business competitiveness. This is according to Leonard Okello, Chief Executive Officer of The Uhuru Institute for Social Development [TUI].

The principles of cooperatives include: Voluntary and Open Membership; Democratic Member Control; Member Economic Participation; Autonomy and Independence; Education, Training, and Information; Cooperation among Cooperatives; Concern for Community.

Further, cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others.

Okello made the call while speaking on the second and last day of the Second Annual Microfinance and Savings Groups Conference 2024, taking place at Hotel Africana in Kampala, with beneficiaries of microfinance institutions, and initiatives sharing experiences, testimonies, and lessons.

Okello explained to the participants at the conference how TUI is contributing to the development of the cooperative sector in Uganda.

He, among others, provided great insights on Coop360 Network, Coop Profiler, theCooperator, and other units of TUI such as Fanaka Finance Limited and Skill Scoop, saying they are all meant to support and strengthen the cooperative movement in Uganda, and Africa.

TUI was also able to display and showcase what it has been able to achieve in supporting the Financial cooperatives sector in Uganda, the latest being the publication of A Proposal for a Specific Tax Regime for Cooperative Societies in which, among others, financial cooperatives  are calling for the extension of the 10-year tax holiday granted in 2017, and is expected to end in 2027.

Meanwhile, speaking at the first day of the conference, the Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Gggoobi reaffirmed the commitment of government to the continued promotion of financial inclusion across the country through initiatives like the Parish Development Model [PDM] where beneficiaries receive Shs 1 million each, to fund income generating activities.

He said it’s now a policy of government to disburse PDM funds via the Wendi Digital Wallet, adding that each beneficiary must undergo a business development services [BDS] process and possess a viable business plan before the loan is approved. ” I have often said that there are two equalisers in life, that is education/knowledge and access to finance,” said

Ggoobi said individuals who utilize information/knowledge well are able to transition to higher levels socially and economically. According to FINSCOPE findings,81 percent of Ugandan adults are financially included up from 77 percent in 2018.

The PSST said whereas some micro borrowers face challenges of high interest rates, theft, and fraud by some microfinance institutions, there are incidences where borrowers take the blame.

He said reports indicate that many would-be borrowers lack collateral security, use forged documents such as land titles, and lack adequate information about them. “Some of them borrow without business plans and end up diverting the funds from the intended purposes,” said Ggoobi.

Minister of State for Microfinance, Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo opened the conference yesterday under the theme: “Leveraging collaborations and partnerships, and promoting a savings culture to foster social economic transformation.”

Addressing the participants at the event, the minister said government is working on amending regulations so that all Savings and Credit Cooperative Associations [SACCOs] in the country will be regulated solely by the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority [UMRA], adding that government’s goal is to provide affordable credit to all Ugandans, enabling them to create wealth for themselves.

The Second Annual Microfinance and Savings Groups Conference 2024, attended by hundreds of participants, was organised by the Finance ministry, Care Uganda, Bank of Uganda, and others.

Also speaking at the conference, Eng. Ronald Ssempebwa Kibuuka, Executive Assistant-Technical to the Chief Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation, said the microfinance sector in Uganda, although still young, is one of the largest and most dynamic in Africa. “After the civil war…a great number of NGOs came into being to support the reconstruction of the shattered Ugandan economy,” he said.

https://thecooperator.news/uhuru-partners-launch-coop360-network-innovations-awards-2023/

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