The Sunday Mail
Tafadzwa Kadani
SACCOs and SMEs are set to benefit in knowledge and financial assistance as the Zimbabwe National Co-operative Federation has come up with initiatives to empower small business owners in the country.
SACCOs is the acronym for savings and credit co-operatives.
The Zimbabwe National Co-operative Federation (ZNFC) in conjunction with the German Co-operative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV) organised an inaugural “train the trainers’” workshop in Harare for Saccos.
The workshop was opened by Deputy Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development, Honourable Noveti Muponora, at Mabvazuva Village last Monday.
Saccos in Zimbabwe date back to 1963 when the first savings club was formed in the then Southern Rhodesia.
Major challenges that have affected the growth of Saccos are lack of knowledge on how to run the different organisations and also on how to perpetuate their savings.
Speaking at the workshop, Hon Muponora said most Saccos in Zimbabwe have failed to take off because most of the members do not understand the concept.
A Sacco is a democratic, unique member-driven, self-help co-operative.
It is owned, governed and managed by its members who have the same common bond, for example working for the same employer or belonging to the same church.
Membership is open to all who belong to the group, regardless of race, religion, colour, creed, and gender or job status.
These members agree to save their money together in the Sacco and to make loans to each other at reasonable rates of interest.
The number of board members are between nine and 15. Members also elect a supervisory committee to perform the function of an internal audit.
ZNFC president, Mr Mike Duru said they conducted a research in 2014 where they identified the various challenges that affect Saccos and last Monday’s workshop was a step in the right direction.
“We realised that most Saccos in Zimbabwe lacked the proficiency of running their businesses, accountability and transparency so we have come up with this initiative to address these problems,” said Mr Duru.
ZNFC has signed a memorandum of understanding with DGRV to train its members on issues pertaining to the formation and running of Saccos.
DGRV training officer (Co-operatives), Mr Cornelius Manunure said this partnership is welcome.
“We are here to capacitate the Saccos movement in Zimbabwe and the main objective is to improve the general standard of living of the people, to help people realise how to create wealth and employment through Saccos,” Mr Manunure said.
Saccos generally operate under an apex body so as to encourage accountability, with the apex body acting as a torchbearer.
In Zimbabwe, the apex body of Saccos is the National Association of Co-operatives and Credit Unions of Zimbabwe (NACSCUZ) which has been dysfunctional for quite some time now.
The workshop was also aimed at reviving NACSUCZ as a way to restore sanctity in the SMEs and co-operatives sector.
Mr Owen Mabukwa, the NACSUCZ chairman said the apex body will be responsible for assisting Saccos in administrative issues, monitoring and evaluating them.
lt will also be responsible for ensuring that the Saccos Bill is adhered to if it is passed.
During the workshop, it was also established that in order to have businesses that last, Saccos need to pull their resources together so as to be able to get sufficient funding.
Hon Muponora said it is high time for Zimbabwean Saccos to learn from other countries such as Malawi and Swaziland where Saccos now operate as banks.
“To the leadership of ZNFC and SMEs, let us now move with speed to form a co-operative bank as this is the only way to overcome some of the challenges that we are facing,” said Hon Muponora.
Mr Duru announced that the ZNFC and the Co-operative Bank of Kenya are working on establishing a co-operative bank in Zimbabwe.
“I am glad to say that the Co-operative Bank of Kenya has agreed to come down to Zimbabwe and establish a working relationship.
“During our discussions, the bank agreed to loan us betweem 40 and 60 percent of the seed money that we need to establish our own bank,” Mr Duru said.
The Co-operative Bank of Kenya is a commercial bank in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African economic bloc.
It is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya. The bank had the second highest customer base in Kenya with over 3,5 million accounts as of June 2013.
In 2010, the bank was awarded “Best Bank of Kenya” by the London Financial Times due to excellent growth.
Saccos are very critical for Zimbabwe’s economic turnaround as the country has the majority of its citizens in the SME industry.
For small businesses to prosper, they need adequate funds for capital and establishing a co-operative bank could help avail funds for them.
“People in housing co-operatives took too long to build their houses because of the small amounts they paid as subscriptions, in some cases $20.
“lf we have a bank, the co-operative can access loans payable at very low interest rates,” explained Mr Duru.
“If each member of the co-operative movement in this country were to pay $1 each towards the establishment of a co-operative bank, we would have that bank operating in just a month,” added Hon Muponora.
Saccos might be the answer to reviving industry in Zimbabwe, reducing the unemployment in Zimbabwe, and empowering the women in the country.
Hon Muponora urged Saccos to work together with the SMEs so as to form a formidable force.
“Formation of Saccos will further strengthen the SMEs and push them to the next higher level of development as they will have a pool of resources to fund their activities,” said Hon Muponora.
However, Hon Muponora hastened to warn co-operatives not to be complacent as a lot still needs to be done.
“Conversely, there is still a lot of work to be done. The coming up of this workshop will assist the co-operative movement to speed up the process of transforming our co-operatives into vibrant business ventures,” added Hon Muponora.
Mr Duru encouraged the youth to get themselves involved in the agenda so that they could also benefit.
“I strongly advise the youths to participate and start forming their co-operatives, get them registered so that when the bank is established they can get loans to start their own business ventures,” Mr Duru explained.
He added that the initiative dovetails with Zim-Asset.
Meanwhile, representatives from the Cooperative Bank of Kenya are expected in the country soon.
