The Manager of Tamale Community Cooperative Credit Union (TCCCU), Mr. Akaare Emmanuel has stated that credit unions have brighter prospects of bridging the huge financial inclusion gap between urban and the rural poor.
According to Mr. Emmanuel, licensing from the central bank to open branches in urban, pre-urban and rural areas to ensure that the financial inclusion gap is further narrowed, is a prerequisite for cooperative societies. Credit unions, he added, are growing faster through mergers and the creation of platforms for managers to share ideas on contemporary trends in the cooperative sector.
The public, he further stated, can trust and invest in cooperative unions because they have the needed expertise to better manage and provide financial services that exceed customer expectations. Mr. Emmanuel made these comments during the 11th Annual General meeting of the Tamale Cooperative Credit Union on Saturday at the Teachers Hall in Tamale.
The Tamale Cooperative Credit Union is a collective property of the customer, hence, the need to hold Annual General Meetings to furnish stakeholders with up-to-date audit report and financial statement for the year that has just ended. This, he said, promotes transparency on the profits realized, assets of the union, the liabilities and how dividends are paid.
It is also an opportunity for shareholders to query the statement and reports as presented for clarification before it is adopted and accepted as a true audit and financial statement of the union. Though the statement showed some challenges for the union, it also indicated a remarkable 30% income increase for the immediate past year, increase in assets and increase in dividends paid to shareholders.
Women, Mr. Emmanuel further noted, constitute 65% of the membership of the TCCCU, and that he said is a deliberate and calculated process of empowering our home keepers. Empowering them financially is the best way to change the development dynamics of the times.
The Board chairperson of the TCCCU, Ms. Christina Agana thanked all shareholders and customers for showing keen interest in what takes place in the union by attending the Annual General Meetings in their numbers. Those meetings, she mentioned, are a statutory requirement and an avenue for the governing board and management to account for their stewardship to stakeholders.
BY: Abukari Jamaldeen
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