‘Co-Operative Unions Must Merge’

Nana K. Agyepong, General Manger of Co-Operative Unions Association (CUA) Ghana, has called for the amalgamation of small Co-Operative Credit Unions in the country to make them a stronger force in the financial sector.

He said the strength of co-operative credit unions lay in its numbers.

Mr. Agyepong disclosed that currently there were over 500 mushroom co-operative credit unions in the country, some of which have membership of 150.

The CUA General Manager disclosed this while speaking at the 9^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Ghana Revenue Authority's Co-Operative Credit Union (GRACCU) in Accra yesterday on the theme: 'Re-Inventing for Layers of Opportunities.'

He said GRA, for instance, has a number of credit unions in the country, adding that its current growth of 20.4 percent was impressive.

Mr. Agyepong said managers of credit unions would soon go through a pre- qualification training in order to enable them handle the funds of their members.

The CUA General Manager, however, urged the union to increase its loan portfolio, which currently stands at 46 percent of its assets to about 70 percent.

John Nyarko, Acting Registrar at the Department of Co-Operative Societies, in a keynote address, said GRACCU is one of the promising credit unions in the country, adding that “it is a safe financial institution; it has quality products and services you can get from any financial institution and also trust.”

Mr. Nayrko stated that Bank of Ghana was going to licence all co-operatives in the country, including credit unions.

He explained that nobody can operate without license from the Central Bank.

Godwin Aaron Monyo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Union, in an address, said efforts were underway to open satellite offices of the union at the Tema and Aflao collection points to bring the union closer to its staff in those areas.

[email protected]
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson