Paul Arithi 
- NCBA hosts Inaugural SACCO engagement session, identifies innovation as a catalyst for the sector growth
NCBA has grown SACCO banking market share to 12.6%. Kenya has 360 regulated Saccos.
NCBA has hosted its Inaugural NCBA SACCO Banking customer engagement forum under the theme ” Gen Z and Saccos, how do we leap into the future? highlighting the need to understand and address the evolving needs of the younger generation and ensuring the sustained relevance and success of Saccos.
During the forum NCBA announced its growth in SACCO Banking Market Share to 12.6% in the last one year, underscoring its commitment to fostering economic empowerment through cooperative movements.
Speaking during the forum, NCBA Group Managing Director John Gachora noted that NCBA is dedicated to being a thought leader in the Sacco sector and a significant player with the right solutions for Saccos, now and in the future.
“SACCOs, stand as critical catalysts for resource mobilization through savings, serving as pivotal enablers for the key pillars of our economy.
We proudly serve both deposit & non-deposit taking saccos countrywide.
What’s even more inspiring is the exponential growth in our market share, which has surged from 1.8% in 2022, when the sector was formed, to an impressive 12.6% as of September 2023.
However,our sights are set higher, and we have an ambitious target to sustain this growth through 2024 and beyond.
The engine for our growth has been a strategy founded on digital innovation, which is very much in tandem with the government digital strategy.” He said.
NCBA’s offerings to SACCOS focuses on digitized collections and payments solutions.
(a) collection solutions include: Check-Off Automation, Auto Reconciliation, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Virtual Accounts, Online Cheque Deposits and Automated Direct Debits
(b) Payment solutions include: Payment APIs, Host To Host Integration, Online Banking and Frictionless Payments
According to the Cabinet Secretary – Ministry of Co-operatives and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Simon Chelugui, EGH who was the chief guest.
Kenya is Africa’s leading country in cooperative the movement.
“As we gather here today, let’s take a moment to recognize the pivotal role that cooperatives play in the socio-economic development of our country.
With over 29,000 registered cooperatives, boasting an impressive asset base of 1.5 trillion shillings, deposits/savings totaling 1.0 trillion shillings, and a loan portfolio of 980 billion shillings, cooperative entities contribute approximately 31% to our national savings.
SACCOs, in particular, stand as critical catalysts for resource mobilization through savings, serving as pivotal enablers for the key pillars of the Bottom-up Economic Transformation (BETA) – Agriculture, MSMEs, Health, Affordable Housing, and the Creative and Digital Economy.” He added
Chelugui added that Kenya has 360 regulated SACCOs, with 14 million members,a monumental 1 trillion in assets, loan book of820 billion, sum aggregate capital of 243 billion, and an equally robust deposit base of 770 billion as of 1st November 2023.
The engagement forum was attended by leadership from over 100 SACCOs, the Principal Secretary, State Department for Co-operatives,Mr.Patrick Kilemi, Deputy Commissioner for Co-operative Development, Mr. Churchill Amatha, SASRA Director Corporate Services, Mr. David Sandagi. Director of Co-operatives, Nairobi County, Mrs.Dolphine Aremo. Director Audit Co-operative Development Department, CPA Betty Rono among other stakeholders
