RWAMAGANA/GATSIBO-The Governor of Eastern Province, Odette Uwamariya, has urged rural communities to start saving with the savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs).Umurenge SACCO is a government initiative, as elaborated in the Vision 2020 development agenda that aims to increase access to financial services.While commissioning a SACCO building in Rwimbogo Sector in Gatsibo District, Uwamariya reaffirmed that the concept of Umurenge SACCO was initiated after realising that banks were more concentrated in towns and less spread out in rural areas.She said that communities should maximally utilize SACCOs, lamenting that some people still kept money in their homes.“People should save in banks and not in houses, it is secure and profitable. Don’t render SACCOs redundant,” she said. “Setting up a SACCO in every sector will bridge the gap between urban and rural banking. We want to break the stigma of fearing financial institutions in rural communities”.The manager of Rwimbogo Sacco reminded residents that members do not need stringent conditions like having a credit history, to join or access credit unlike in banks.
