The Minister of State in charge of the National Treasury at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Richard Tusabe, has said that the long-awaited automation of the 416 Umurenge Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) across the country is expected to be fully achieved by the end of June 2024.

Tusabe said this during a budget hearing on Wednesday, May 10, where the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) and its affiliated agencies presented their proposed budget for the fiscal year 2023/2024.

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According to data from the Finance Ministry, the Umurenge SACCOs automation and consolidation project, aimed at creating a cooperative bank, commenced in 2020 and is projected to be completed in 2024, with a budget of over Rwf7.8 billion.

MP Omar Munyaneza, the Chairperson of the Lower House&039;s Committee on National Budget and Patrimony, emphasized that in order for the full automation of Umurenge SACCOs to be possible, MINECOFIN must ensure the effective execution of the budget allocated to the project in the current fiscal year, which concludes on June 30.

Additionally, they need to utilize the Rwf2.6 billion earmarked for the scheme in the next fiscal year.

According to MINECOFIN, an allocation of over Rwf3.5 billion was made for the project in the current fiscal year, but as of April 30, only 56 percent (or over Rwf1.9 billion) of the funds had been utilized. Tusabe explained that the slow budget execution was primarily due to a lack of personnel responsible for monitoring the automation performance.

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"We now have a team of software developers and business analysts. However, the challenge lies in acquiring auditors – those workers who collect clients' forms from SACCOs and input them in the e-environment.

This process was delayed, but we have made progress and believe that hiring 100 additional workers will help us expedite the project. Our goal is to have all SACCOs automated by the end of this year (December) and then allocate three months for consolidation at the district level so that each district has a comprehensive banking system," Tusabe stated.

Currently, 68 Umurenge SACCOs have been automated, and an additional 99 are in the pipeline, expected to be automated by the end of June this year, according to MINECOFIN.

MP Christine Bakundufite expressed concerns that the lack of automation was discouraging people from joining these financial institutions since they cannot access their money from anywhere in the country. It currently necessitates visiting the specific SACCO where the account was opened, and account holders are unable to monitor their transactions due to the absence of technological support.

Furthermore, Bakundufite highlighted that relying on paperwork in SACCOs was outdated and inefficient in terms of financial management.

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MP Munyaneza stressed that the effective automation of Umurenge SACCOs would benefit members of these financial institutions, which are closer to the residents, by addressing challenges such as limited access to their accounts nationwide.

"At present, there are cases where a resident who holds Rwf5,000 in an Umurenge SACCO account in Rubavu District, but is in Kigali and manages to obtain an additional Rwf3,000 for deposit, must return to Rubavu to conduct the transaction. However, this involves transportation costs exceeding the amount in question," Munyaneza explained, noting that the same applies to money withdrawal.