By Henry Mwangonde , The Guardian
THERE were 981 savings and credit cooperatives in the country serving 1.9m members as of last December, with assets growing by 16 per cent in one year to 1.69trn/-.
Daniel Chongolo, the Agriculture minister, made this affirmation at the 26th African SACCOs Congress—held under the theme ‘Building trust, driving transformation’ and attended by 1,200 participants from 35 countries.
Prime Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba, officiating at the event, urged African Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) to strengthen governance, embrace digital technology and expand access to finance to transform the continent’s savings into productive investments.
He highlighted the sector's vital role in financing enterprises, creating jobs and empowering communities, asserting that Africa possesses immense potential to mobilize internal resources but needs robust financial institutions to bridge the gap between its large population and its relatively small share of global cooperative assets.
"The cooperative movement is not simply a financial movement; it is a development movement, an empowerment movement and a transformation movement," he declared, asking leaders of cooperatives to convert local savings into regional investments while safeguarding members’ trust.
Protecting members’ savings, digitalizing cooperative services, empowering young people, financing cross-border trade, and modernizing regulatory frameworks are the key tasks for financial cooperatives, he stated.
Trust remains SACCOs’ most valuable asset as to safeguard member funds there must be competent boards, professional management, transparency and prudent financial management.
Tanzania is actively enhancing supervision, cybersecurity and board diversity, with women's representation on SACCO boards rising from 29.7 per cent to 42.5 per cent at present, he said, highlighting local progress.
Tanzania’s supervisory framework combines cooperative principles with strict prudential standards covering capital, asset quality, and earnings, with real-world impact of cooperative financing being appreciated even at upper levels of society.
He shared a personal account of receiving a 4m/- SACCO loan nearly two decades ago, reaffirming the government’s commitment to supporting the movement as an engine for financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
Agriculture permanent secretary Gerald Mweli noted that formal financial inclusion in Tanzania rose from 65 per cent in 2017 to 76 per cent in 2023, with well-managed SACCOs generating vital employment across agricultural, transport and trade value chains.
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