Fast-Tracking Economic Growth of SACCOS through the adoption of ICT.

What is SACCOS?

SACCOS stands for Savings And Credit Co-Operative Society. It is a voluntary association of individuals united by a common economic and social needs. Each member has an equal ownership of the society. Members start off by agreeing to continually save their money together and then wisely making loans to each other at reasonable interest rates. The interest rates are for the growth and daily operational costs of the SACCOS. SACCOS are autonomous association where by each member has an equal ownership share of the SACCOS.

If the SACCOS posts profits at the end of a fiscal year then members can agree on a profit sharing model that will benefit SACCOS and its members. The loan amount and interest awarded to a member is usually based on the individual member's savings, thus SACCOS encourage the spirit of saving and wise lending. Unlike loan-schemes and loan-sharks, SACCOS benefits its members. All members of the SACCOS are treated equally and indiscriminately. One could say that SACCOS are based on the doctrine of “United we stand, divided we fall”.

SACCOS encourage the spirit of saving and wise lending.

There are a lot of success stories from SACCO organizations across the African Continent. Some SACCOS have gone beyond savings to invest in other different markets such as property and retail. On the flip-side, some SACCOS have gone deep under due to mismanagement and lack of due-diligence. Most SACCOS are still being operated traditionally, where by each member has a Ledger Card on which transactions are recorded. It has been this Ledger Card which has caused many SACCOS to collapse. The control measures that a Ledger Card offers are very weak and primitive. A simple scenario is where by huge amounts are withdrawn from the SACCOS savings and just before audit time the Ledger Card disappears mysteriously without a trail, hence leaving large amounts of money unaccounted for.

Mismanagement of Ledger-Cards has been the downfall of many SACCOS.

This brings me to the topic of this assay; Fast-Tracking the Economic Growth of SACCOS through adoption of ICT.

It is a fact that with proper management the SACCO model offers a low-risk high-benefit factor but it is also highly probable that lack of controls can bring the whole SACCOS crumbling down. It is also a fact that we are living in the 21st Century where TECHNOLOGY IS THE ENABLER. Therefore, if you bring the two together, SACCOS and ICT, then you have a formula for SUCCESS FOR ONE AND ALL!!

In brief, this is what technology offers which traditional methods do not offer. In a layman's language, traditional methods are what a donkey is to a modern day supersonic jet airplane. A donkey does not offer much comfort nor convenience to the rider as opposed to a five-star lounge in a flying machine. Donkey-riding offers no security, no protection against the weather, the night and its creeping creatures. On the flip-side, technology has a strong resilience against a wide range of conditions. Over and above that, technology offers speed, accuracy, reliability, consistency and convenience.

In the context of the SACCOS , ICT is a fast-track enabler to the success of a modern day SACCOS and the benefits could be summed up with the following diagram whereby each facet is meticulously taken into consideration;

The better the management of the SACCOS the higher the returns to the SACCOS and all its members. The only thing that stands between the success of any SACCOS is proper management strongly leveraging on the Business Intelligence that technology has to offer.

At Skymouse IT-Consult www.skymouse-itconsult.com we have the ultimate package specifically customized according to the needs of a SACCO Society seeking to accelerate its growth rate. Call us NOW on (+267) 391 5458 or drop us an email at [email protected] to book your limited and exclusive online demo of Skymouse' cloud-based SMART-SACCOS Business Solution.