Performance of Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) in Jinja District, Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to assess the performance of Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) in Jinja District, eastern Uganda. It covered members and management of ten SACCOS within the district. Specific objectives included: to assess whether or not there was relationship between actual financial services delivered and the expected financial services to deliver; to analyze SACCOS' contribution to members in terms of economic empowerment; and to evaluation whether or not SACCOS members have benefited from the financial services. The study involved 93 respondents from 10 surveyed SACCOS. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in data collection and analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed through the SPSS and Microsoft Excel computer packages. The findings show that SACCOS played a very significant role in providing financial services to members. Data analysis and hypotheses testing have led to the following conclusions: (i) There was a significant relationship between financial services expected to deliver and the actual financial services delivered; (ii) There was a significant increase in business capital after joining SACCOS rather than before in that it led to improvements in members income and wealth accumulation; (iii) Participating members have realized significant benefits by way of accessing loans and other social benefits after joining SACCOS ratherthan before. Lastly, the study recommends cooperative and business training that SACCOS should pay dividends on members' shares and interest on fixed deposits to attract more members, and hence increase their capital base, and also government funding is needed