SISTER CREDIT UNION EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Ghana is the birth place of the African credit union movement. The first credit union on the continent was established in jirapa in the Upper West region in 1955. The credit Union movement have had a steady growth in assets, savings, loan services and membership. The union can now boast of good institutional systems in place with legislative regulatory instrument.

Undeniably, credit unions can be counted as one of the long serving and most sustainable micro finance institutions in Ghana. However, the growth and sustainability attained is threatened with the continuous operation with seemingly conservative systems and approaches to management and operations. Computerization, organizational structuring, staff placement and reporting are some of the areas with major challenges, due to limitations in innovation and creativity. One of the most affected areas which we greatly focus on in the CGA is the governance of credit unions in Ghana. Issues of leadership selection, capacity building, voluntarism, leadership performance evaluation, regulatory compliance, tenure and succession continue to pose great challenges not commensurate with the long life of credit unions in Ghana.

Goal

A developed and sustainable credit Union network that provide opportunities among themselves to learn, share and transfer knowledge in different areas of the sector.

Objectives

The objectives of the exchange program among other are:

- Cooperation for innovation and exchange development ideas

- Cooperation for Research development Projects

- Cooperation to foster potential projects initiatives and implementation

- Virtual Exchange of experiences and know how between credit Unions

- Capacity building programs supporting partners, offering virtual collaboration spaces and online training opportunities

- To organize business to business conferencing

- To organize Study Tours

- Exchange visits to offer intercultural learning experiences

- Mobilize all-purpose resources to support grassroots community development and distressed credit Union.

- To promote Credit union Social Responsibility

Program Approach

The program has been divided into

International and National

International

1. NORTH TO SOUTH EXCHANGE (Europe, USA, Canada and Africa exchange)

2. SOUTH TO SOUTH EXCHANGE (Africa Countries)

NATIONAL

3. DEVELOPED TO DISTRESSED (Ghana Credit Unions)

Contact Co-operative Governance Sister Credit Union Exchange Program at scuep@coopsgov.com for further information and registration forms