Kilimanjaro Co-operative Bank Limited (KCBL) has been advised to make use of Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (Saccos) as its agents so that villagers get access to banking facilities easily.
Kilimanjaro Regional Undersecretary (Finance and Productivity), Mr Simon Msoka, said here recently that the project is viable and will be beneficial to the bank as well as to villagers who badly need safe banking services at their doors.
Mr Msoka was launching a training organised for members of SACCOS aimed to equip them with the best practices in the sector so that they mould their groups and operate as banks do.
The training is sponsored by KCBL under MIVRAF Project. The Assistant Regional Secretary said the idea has come at an opportune moment, when many people in the region have a positive frame of mind in as far as SACCOS, Village Community Banks (Vicoba) and co-operative societies are concerned.
He said the Office of Prime Minister had earlier on issued guidelines that such services should target people at grassroots, who cannot easily access bank services in urban areas due to different challenges such as transport or see it as time-wasting because it takes many hours from their quarters to town where banks operate.
Mr Msoka was optimistic that once SACCOS are used as bank’s agents, the bank would increase its customers and hence its liquidity while coops and individuals would get easy access to credit to invest in economic activities.
“This training is aimed at capacity building to leaders and members of SACCOS on best practices in improving the quasi co-operatives, how to translate financial reports but much more how you can organise yourselves and run the SACCOS in a bank manner so that you deliver more,” said Mr Msoka.
The official noted that Kilimanjaro Region has 200 registered SACCOS and after a scientific research done by KCBL and MIVRAF, 80 SACCOS were chosen out of those for they were found to be compatible with the project.
Its officials now are trained so that in turn they instil the knowledge to its village-based members. Mr Msoka said as long as the bank is made up of coops, members and stakeholders, it is in everybody’s best interest that coops, companies, institutions, shareholders and individuals buy more shares so that the bank spread out by opening more branches.
He urged co-operative executives from the level of SACCOS to board of directors to learn and understand their responsibilities while leaders at all levels be honest, especially in regard to financial matters.
In her address, KCBL General Manager, Ms Elizabeth Makwabe, said one of successes attained by the Tanzania’s first co-operative bank is implementation of Warehouse Receipt System that was initiated by the bank in the country.
Originally published on DailyNews Tanzania
