Fatmata Kargbo, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and Ambassador Aidan Fitzpatrick, Embassy of Ireland at the launch of Credit Union Growth and Sustainability
The National Cooperative Credit Union Association (NaCCUA) in partnership with the Irish League of Credit Unions Foundation (ILCUF) Ltd has launched their new five-year program, Credit Union Growth and Sustainability. The launch ceremony was held at NaCCUA/ILCUF Ltd office, 23 Pultney Street on Thursday (January 16).
The new program is supported by the Government of Ireland and the Irish Credit Union movement and aims to foster financial inclusion through sustainable growth of the CU movement in Sierra Leone. There are currently 25 CUs affiliated to NaCCUA, the apex body for CUs in Sierra Leone.
The launch was attended by representatives from the Embassy of Ireland, the Bank of Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Trade & Industry, the Department of Cooperatives Concern Worldwide staff and Board members of NaCCUA and ILCUF Ltd. Peter A. Banting, General Manager, NaCCUA and Solomon Mwongyere, General Manager, ILCUF Ltd SL presented on the new five-year program and what it sets out to achieve. The overall goal is to promote financial inclusion and reduce poverty for a greater number of Sierra Leoneans. The program has three key outcomes, ensuring CUs are safe and secure and have healthy and sustainable loan portfolios, savings and reserves, and increasing the trust in these cooperative organisations. The second outcome is sustainable growth of the movement. Growing the membership is key and focus will be on developing and implementing national and local marketing strategies. The third outcome is ensuring NaCCUA and the CUs become sustainable. Over the course of the five-year program, NaCCUA, will work closely with all the key stakeholders to ensure the outcomes are achieved and the CU movement in Sierra Leone supports more people to have access to secure savings and affordable loans.
Donagh Healy, International Program Director for ILCU Foundation in Ireland explained how “we will continue to build the capacity of local Sierra Leoneans in both NaCCUA and ILCUF LTD teams and credit unions staff. During this program, we want to transfer the baton to NaCCUA so that NaCCUA has all the skills to run the credit union movement. We have done this in The Gambia and Albania and we can do it in Sierra Leone too.”
Speaking at the launch, Fatmata Kargbo, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Trade and Industry highlighted that the program aligns perfectly with the President’s Big Five Agenda which seeks to drive progress in economic transformation. Fatmata noted “As a government, we remain steadfast in our ultimate goal to create an enabling environment for credit union to thrive. We are actively working to finalize and implement the standard rules for credit unions, ensuring transparency accountability and compliance.”
Kingston Eugene Miller, Manager, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Bank of Sierra Leone stated that this is a significant milestone towards the journey of strengthening the financial service landscape and promoting economic empowerment for individuals’ families and communities across the nation. “As a supervisory authority, our role extends beyond regulatory oversight, we aim to foster a nurturing environment where credit unions can flourish while safeguarding the integrity of the financial sector.”
Aidan Fitzpatrick, Ambassador of Ireland to Sierra Leone, gave the key note address at the launch, noting “that the Irish government are proud to be supporting this initiative”. Ambassador Fitzpatrick that he himself is a life-long member of the CU, and that CUs in Ireland have been awarded the most trusted institution for over a decade. The Ambassador stated that the CUs in Sierra Leone need to grow and give ordinary people in Sierra Leone access to finance. He noted that work is ongoing to build the infrastructure and the movement, “but we need to take-off…growth to-date has been in the thousands, we need very quickly to grow to tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands and then into millions.”
Lamin Kamara, Chairman, NaCCUA, thanked everyone for coming and noted that today marks the start of a new program. Lamin spoke about the essence of collaboration, “at NaCCUA , we have always believed in the power of collaboration and today is a testament to what we can achieve together. This program is not just a milestone; it is a reflection of shared values, mutual respect and commitment to excellence”.
As a not-for-profit financial institution, CUs are owned and governed by their members. The CU movement is a global movement with over 74,000 CUs in 104 countries with 411 million members across the world. The new five year program will grow CU membership in Sierra Leone and ensure more people are financially included.
