Co-operatives Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui has urged Saccos in the country to diversify their products.
This, he says will go a long way in addressing the emerging members’ needs.
The CS was speaking on Saturday March 2, 2024 when he presided over the Mwalimu Sacco Annual Delegates Meeting (ADM) in Nairobi.
“I encourage Saccos in the country to diversify their product portfolio to meet members emerging needs like housing mortgage products to address the housing deficit in the country,” the CS stated.
Mwalimu National Sacco Society Ltd occupies a very special position in serving the financial sector nationally.
With a branch network of over 131,000 members, Mwalimu Sacco is a good opportunity to leverage on, in disbursing affordable credit to members.
The CS added that if Saccos can take that direction,then it will complement the government efforts to facilitate supply of affordable housing.
“Indeed, this is a crucial role the cooperative sector can take advantage in providing of affordable shelters to the majority of Kenyans,” he said.
Chelugui also called on cooperatives to partner with the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) to access affordable long-term financing programme.
Despite the challenging economic environment experienced in the country, he noted that Mwalimu Sacco has managed to record an asset base in the excess of Ksh66 billion, deposits and savings of over Ksh49 billion, loans/advances of over Ksh45 billion and revenue of Ksh8 billion.
According to the CS, the Co-operative business model is an ideal vehicle for ensuring financial inclusion to the majority of the Kenyan population who would otherwise not have access to financial services from conventional institutions.
This, he said is evidenced with a staggering 28,000 registered cooperatives and a huge membership of over 14 million that spreads across the whole strata of Kenya’s population including those at the bottom of the pyramid.
“Co-operative Societies are therefore encouraged to exploit this advantage to recruit more members in order to expand their financial inclusion,” he said.
This even as Kenya Kwanza government continues to recognize cooperatives as enabler of the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
This is due to the important role of cooperatives in the financial inclusion of the citizenry, and the ability to compliment the government’s effort in provision of affordable housing as well as food security.
The CS reiterated his Ministry’s support towards the same.
“In view of the critical role played by the Cooperatives and MSMEs sector, I want to assure you of My Ministry’s commitment in providing an enabling environment for the cooperative sector,” he stated.
Author: Pristone Mambili
A trained Journalist with passion for Radio and online Writing.