KAMPALA – Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) Village Savings Groups and Investment Clubs in Uganda have been urged to invest in digitalizing their services for maximum benefits and complete transformation.
Appearing on UBC TV on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, Mr. Ivan Asiimwe, the General Secretary of Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA) said that this approach will bolster the enterprises.
Referring to the recently launched Investor Club App, a digital means through which Saccos, Village Savings Groups, Investment Clubs, and others can transact, Mr. Asiimwe urged cooperators to leverage technology from source of raw materials to the market to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the production value chain.
InvestaApp is a solution that enables savings and lending groups to manage their financial operations and records digitally.
“In the past financial records of SACCOs, village savings groups and cooperatives were in the hands of a few administrators like chairperson, secretary, and treasurer. There was a scenario where a chairperson swallowed the financial records of the group as members had come to collect their money thereby leaving no proof behind for people’s savings. This can however be saved if records are digital,” Mr. Asiimwe said.
He added: “It’s easy to trace an accounting under a digital system unlike in the manual system where you’re required to have all staff work 24/7 to track a minor error recorded in the system.”
He told viewers that the move is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty and a good initiative to reach smallholder persons, who are the majority in cooperatives.
“It is very clear that we are looking at ending hunger, poverty, and ensuring quality education downstream”, Asiimwe remarks adding, “We had members who could travel for 10kms taking little money to deposit and in the end encroach on the savings, so this app will encourage saving”.
There are over 50,000 registered Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) in Uganda with a portfolio of over 18 million Ugandans. Mr. Asiimwe said UCA seeks to reach all of them.
On her part, Ms. Angella Nandawula, who heads Business and Institutional Banking at the Housing Finance Bank and is the initiator of the application said the app provides an integrated platform featuring automated audits, risk management tools, and collaborative communication channels, to ensure accountability and transparency.
She said members of a Sacco can be able to observe and track their transactions including deposits, savings, or withdrawals.
She said the development seeks to drive financial inclusion where even the lowest person is involved in earning and saving what they earn.
“This way, we shall drive our economy,” Nandawula said, adding that: “the app is fortified with state-of-the-art encryption protocols, to safeguard confidentiality and security of the member’s data. We have gone beyond the conventional tools.”
Cooperatives in all sectors of the economy ie, agriculture, housing, transport, and Emyooga /skills-based are represented by their apex body, UCA which was established in 1961 to serve as the voice of the cooperative movement both nationally and internationally.
