Government’s push for Co-op-led development
The government has maintained that it plans to ride on co-operatives as key enablers of its 2022-27 Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
It intends to use co-operatives to drive activity on its key development pillars, including agriculture, affordable housing, MSMEs, health, and a digital and creative economy.
“This government has recognized the critical role these co-operatives play in financial deepening and has put in place a regulatory authority that regulates them in a manner akin to the regulatory framework of banks under the Central Bank,” said Hon Simon Chelugui, Cabinet Secretary for Co-operatives and MSMEs Development.
He made these remarks during a recent dinner hosted by ACCOSCA for the Savings and Credit Co-operatives Associations (SACCAs) top executives and CEOs from the US, Europe, Canada, Africa, and other parts of the globe in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County. This event was also attended by host Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii Chelilim, Governor Stephen Sang (Nandi County), Governor Wesley Rotich (Elgeyo-Marakwet), and Governor Simon Kachapin of West Pokot County.
 Ksh50 billion
In its manifesto, the Kenya Kwanza administration has said it will commit Ksh 50 billion a year to provide MSMEs with 100% access to affordable finance through Saccos, venture capital, equity funds, and long-term debt for start-ups and growth-oriented SMEs.
The Bottom-up Economic Agenda intends to transform the economy by pooling millions of low-income and hard-working citizens into the struggle for shared prosperity, triggering economic growth that ensures no one is left out of the kitchen when the national cake is being baked.
Co-operative societies are a sure way of formalizing marginalized and informal sector players, aggregating their meager resources and enabling them to leverage economies of scale.
Saccos can accelerate the pace of financial inclusion and penetration of savings and credit facilities while making credit available to those cut off from the formal financial sector who are not techno-savvy and lack any form of collateral.
Co-operatives can also be used as engines of growth in numerous value chains, including dairy, coffee and tea, maize and rice, edible oils, leather, garments and textiles, artisanal mining, artisanal fishing, and horticulture, as well as housing.
The government also seeks to invest in the Blue Economy by providing financial and technical support to fishing co-operatives in Nyanza and Coast regions, enabling them to build capacity in fish processing as well as acquire cold storage facilities in order to enable them to acquire cold rooms and fish processing equipment.
Saccos continues to play a key role in providing affordable finance facilities to those who intend to build or own their own homes. Saccos are also heavy hitters in the government’s affordable housing plan by providing huge tracks of land and finance to their membership.
Saccos can accelerate the pace of financial inclusion and penetration of savings and credit facilities while making credit available to those cut off from the formal financial sector who are not techno-savvy and lack any form of collateral.
