Cooperatives boosting rural financial inclusion

More people from rural communities are increasingly using or accessing financial services thanks to government initiatives that encourage people to join Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOS).Francois Kanimba, the Minister of Trade and Industry said that majority of the people are now using financial institutions following the introduction of Umurenge SACCO.He made the remarks on Monday at the 10th International Cooperatives Alliance (ICA)-Africa Regional Assembly in Kigali.This comes at a time when the latest survey by FinScope Rwanda dubbed “Financial Inclusion in Rwanda 2008-2012” shows that lending in rural communities surged over the last five years, reflecting growing appetite for credit among farmers.The report said that the percentage of borrowing among the rural adults stands at 57.6 per cent, compared to 45.6 per cent in Kigali City Overall, 72 per cent of Rwandan adults (about 3.2 million) have or use financial products, with 57.5 per cent informally served while 1.3 million Rwandans are financially excluded, it stated. “Cooperatives are considered as one of the best tools to speed up achievements in various national programs towards our Vision 2020,” the Minister said, adding that; ““Since 2005, our Government is committed to deeply restructure the Sector of cooperative development.” Kanimba said the increasing access to cooperatives will empower their, who are mainly farmers, to improve their members productivity thus alleviating poverty.The co-operative movement in Rwanda has been growing steadily with an estimated population of two million people (members). Most of them live in rural areas. The country has over 5,000 cooperatives spread across various sectors of the economy.The conference aims to bring together governments and co-operative movement leaders in Africa to deliberate on the ways of harnessing the advantages of the co-operative business model.Other countries in attendance include Finland, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom“We need to keep our selves updated on what is going on and sharing success stories and challenges along side with solutions to them,” said Stanley Muchini, the President of ICA.

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Cooperatives boosting rural financial inclusion