Stanbic Bank to help Okere Shea Cooperative Society join banking system
OTUKE, March 21, 2025 – Stanbic Bank, Lira Branch, has pledged to assist Otuke district’s Okere Shea Cooperative Society Limited members, especially women, to open bank accounts as they work towards improving their household incomes.
Okere Shea Cooperative Society Limited is a Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO) that was established in 2020 and currently has 156 members across 15 groups.
The cooperative’s objective is to empower the community, particularly women, in Okere Parish, Otuke District, by promoting the protection of shea trees and enabling the community to benefit from shea butter production.
The SACCO’s main activities include bulking shea nuts, and value addition through partnerships with companies that produce shea nut butter, weekly savings, and loan disbursements.
Ben Olwol, Stanbic Bank’s Lira Branch Manager, while meeting SACCO members, expressed his enthusiasm about the SACCO, stating that the bank would not only empower the SACCO members with financial literacy but also provide financing to help them grow their businesses.
“I am excited that this is a community SACCO, and we look forward to providing capacity building for the SACCO, as well as financing to help scale your activities. Our goal is to improve household members’ household incomes so that parents can afford to pay school fees,” Olwol added.
At present, the credit cooperative is undercapitalised and unable to provide loans to all of its members, who have been criticised for low savings.
Ojok Okello, the Chairperson of the cooperative, added that shea butter collection occurs over a short period each year.
“We are unable to advance loans as required by the members; we can only afford to give them very small amounts. This is because we lack the capacity to meet the financial needs of our members, many of whom are women in the village. Shea butter collection takes place during a short window between June and September,” Okello explained.
Okello also noted that the SACCO leaders have held capacity-building seminars, where members are trained in financial management, investments, business planning, and other crucial skills.
“We train SACCO members in business planning and support them in refining their business ideas, as well as helping them start businesses that can improve their household incomes,” Okello said.
The SACCO has seen several successes, including an increase in the income levels of its members.
“As part of this initiative, we have witnessed remarkable progress in household incomes. For instance, before we launched this cooperative in 2020, many members were living on less than 1 dollar per day. However, an evaluation conducted last year revealed that most members now spend between Shs 6,500 and Shs 8,000 per day,” Okello said.
Charles Opio, the Senior Commercial Officer of Otuke District, highlighted that the government has policies and programmes supporting financial inclusion and praised Stanbic Bank for its commitment to integrating the cooperative members into the formal economy.
“Typically, a cooperative is a group of people with a common interest, which includes elements of community banking. If Stanbic integrates the SACCO members into the financial sector, it means the members will have greater access to financial resources, particularly in terms of borrowing,” Opio said.
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