News

THE GHANAIAN TIMES 29th May 2012

The Dean of Faculty of Social Science of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Stephen B.Kendie has called on the government to expedite action on the passage of the Credit Union Bill into law. The bill, he said, when passed, would provide a framework to better regulate the operations of credit unions in the country.

Delivering the keynote address at the 17th Educational and Biennial Conferenceof the Co-operative Credit Union Association (CUA) Limited in Kasoa, he said the law would also ensure good governance, accountability and transparency in the unions activities.

The three day conference is on theme, "International Year of Co-operatives: The role of Credit Unions in bridging the gap between the rich and the poor". It was attended by more than 600 delegates from 250 credit unions across the country. As part of the programme, former executives, hardworking and best performing credit unions were awarded.

Professor Kendie said for the credit unions to be more effective, there was the need for a law to regulate their operations and also to clamp down on quack operators in the industry. Tough the Ghana Living Standards Surveys shows that hardcore poverty was reducing, he said inequality between the rich and the poor was widening, he said.

Professor Kendie, therefore entreated credit unions to move from their comport zones of merely administering small loans to customers and expand thier operations to the rural areas where the financial services of credit unions were needed. He said most of the people in the rural areas did not have bank account because the services of the commercial banks did not meet their needs.

Professor Kendie said the credit unions needed to develop innovative and tailor made products that meets the needs of the poor and underprivileged in society.
"The time has come for credit unions to upscale and reach out to lower income customer segments and launch micro insurance products to enable the poor and low income groups to cope with various forms of risks," the Dean stated.

Professor Kendie lauded the CUA for introducing micro savings metal box which commited members to make compulsory savings as way of creating wealth.
The National Board Chairman of CUA, Cyprian K.A Basing in his address said despite financial crises, which had hit some of the developing economies and thus having a toll on developing economies like Ghana, the association was helping to address poverty in the country.

He urged CUA not to rest on it oars but work hard to reach every community in the country and also develop products for the poor. Commenting on the conference, he said it provides opportunity to take stock of the activities of the past year and also strategise for the coming year. Mr. Basing commended Ghana for creating the congenial environment for CUA to survive.

The acting director of the Financial Sector Division of the Ministry of Finance, Ms Yvonne Quansah who chaired the programme, lauded CUA for the role it was playing to promote the development of the country. She said CUA was helping to mobilise the excess liquidity in the economy through the deposits it takes from its members.
Ms Quansah pledged the government to pass the Credit Union Bill into law to provide a better framework for regulating the credit unions and also cramp down on the operations of quack operators in the industry.