Following the successful completion of pilot trainings in the previous year, the Sparkassenstiftung and the National Association of Co-Operative Credit Unions of The Gambia (NACCUG) have signed a contract for a new savings banks partnership project in June 2015. Thus, the Sparkassenstiftung supports NACCUG in setting up a centralised education system for all credit unions throughout the country. With an initial term of three years, the project focuses on the development of measure for education and further training of staff as well as creating a pool of trainers from the association’s and credit unions’ own ranks.

NACCUG connects credit unions to ensure the population’s encompassing supply with financial services

For huge parts of the population in Gambia, the credit unions provide the only access to financial services. In contrast to commercial banks, the credit unions give people with lower income the opportunity to save and draw money or even to get a small loan. Often, certain professional groups like teachers, airport staff or the police form own credit unions to make use of financial services that are customized to the group’s specific requirements. In addition to that, some 50 rural credit unions are catering to the needs of the people in more remote areas of this West African country. In these rural credit unions, two or three staff members, who more than often do not have any or just few commercial knowledge and practice, are handling 200 to 500 credit-union members.

NACCUG connects these different credit unions with each other, offers joint training measures and renders support in such issues like year-end- statements, accounting and all other daily, but relevant business processes.

Expertise of Sparkassenstiftung beyond borders

The freshly launched partnership project with NACCUG in The Gambia benefits from Sparkassenstiftung’s expertise and experience gained in Ghana: Here, Sparkassenstiftung has been engaged in a project with Ghana’s national Credit Union Association (CUA) and its Credit Union Training Center (CUTraC) since 2010 with the aim to promote business operations and training offers.

Following the Ghanaian example, Sparkassenstiftung now supports the NACCUG in Gambia in setting up an own education system for its affiliated credit unions. On the occasion of the signing ceremony in Banjul on 12 June, NACCUG’s Managing Director, Baboucarr Jeng, underlined the importance of vocational training for the small and in many cases only poorly developed financial institutions: “Already during last year’s pilot training measures it became clear that even single and isolated educational measures and trainings give important impetus to the growth and professionalization of the credit unions.”

More details about the partnership project with the Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA) and the development of the Credit Union Training Center in Ghana can be accessed <link http: www.sparkassenstiftung.de en projects projekt sparkassenpartnerschaftsprojekt-mit-der-ghana-co-operative-credit-unions-association-cua-aufba _blank>here

Contact partners:

Stefan Henkelmann / Carina Lau
Sparkassenstiftung für internationale Kooperation
Simrockstraße 4
53113 Bonn / Germany
Phone: +49 228 9703-6625 / -6608
Fax: +49 228 9703-6613