A TOTAL of 746 members of savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOS) have benefited from loans issued through a credit rotation fund established in September 2021, during economic disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stephen Safe, the country director for German Sparkassenstiftung Eastern Africa (DSIK), a German microfinance agency for international cooperation, said that over the past three years, the impact of this initiative has been remarkable, with the fund having facilitated the circulation of 1.2bn/-.

This amount marked 380 per cent growth from its original amount, which started by granting the Savings and Credit Cooperative Union League of Tanzania (SCCULT) 270m/- to extend credit among members of cooperative societies, he stated.

SCCULT is an umbrella organisation for such societies, with the DSIK fund chiefly meant to help ease the financial strain on small businesses and cooperative members whose economic activities were affected by the pandemic.

Nearly half of the 746 beneficiaries are women, which points to the fund’s role in promoting gender inclusion and empowerment in credit societies, where at a recent handover in the capital, the director underlined the need to ensure the fund’s sustainability for longer term resilience.

SCCULT assumed full ownership and management of the fund, with the handover marking the fund’s transition to SCCULT, while seeking to promote financial literacy and governance training, equipping the agency with tools for driving long-term growth and impact in the cooperatives sector.

Josephat Kisamalala, assistant registrar for financial cooperatives at the Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission, hailed the partnership between DSIK and SCCULT, noting the critical role that initiatives like the fund play in enhancing the capacity of the cooperative sector.

This facilitation ensures that the sector will remain pivotal to the country’s development efforts, he said, while the country director shared insights into the close partnership between DSIK and SCCULT, which began in April 2020.

Since its inception in 1992, DSIK has worked on development projects in over 80 countries, focusing on financial literacy, MSME financing, institutional building, rural development, green financing and financial inclusion, he said.

The collaboration with SCCULT has primarily focused on capacity building for financial cooperatives, with over 1.6bn/- invested into the strengthening of SCCULT, credit cooperatives and their members.

More than 2,000 participants have undergone training, enhancing their governance and financial management capabilities, he said, noting that the fund was created chiefly with a view to supporting income-generating activities for Saccos members whose businesses were ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.

By August 2024, a total of 746 Saccos members had obtained 1.296bn/-in loans, with training being directed at digitalisation training, enabling Saccos to modernise their operations, serve their members more effectively.

DSIK support extends beyond financial assistance, adding up governance training, office equipment and rent assistance to SCCULT, uplifting cooperatives’ operations, with a 300m/- training fund.

SCCULT officials were trained in the area of renewable energy, designing financial products to support sustainable energy initiatives, meanwhile as by last month 864 Saccos members had been trained in financial literacy, increasing chances of success of their ventures.