Minister urges SACCOS to budget for digitalisation
THE Minister of Commerce Industry and Trade has advised SACCOs to set aside a budget for digitalization.
The Minister made this passionate plea during the 6th SACCO Indaba held at Esibayeni Lodge on Wednesday.
SACCO is an acronym for Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization. It has 29,000 members from 14 SACCOs who enjoy the Mambu Core Banking Engine with over E832m deposits.
Mambu Core Banking Engine is a cloud-based core banking platform that serves banks, fintechs, lenders, and non-traditional financial players. It is the foundation of modern financial experiences.
The minister stated that even though this may seem like a costly investment, it will be affordable when considering the benefits it will have in the short, medium, and long term.
He also noted that he was pleased to see that SACCOs in the country were showing interest in adopting digitalization to bring about positive changes in the sector.
In his statement, he mentioned that the digital space has now taken over the socio-economic space in the entire world. Hence, SACCOs must not lag behind in the digital space.
He praised the 14 SACCOs that are currently using the Mambu Core Banking Engine. More than 29,000 members are already enjoying the e-services on the platform, with deposits exceeding E832.5 million.
The minister expressed that this was a significant move towards providing members with a good digital experience.
“As a country, we are focused on maximizing the opportunities that arise with the digital age. It is therefore crucial that SACCOs establish themselves in this space. According to DATAREPORTAL’s report from 2023, there were a total of 1.28 million active cellular mobile connections in Eswatini early in 2023. This figure is equivalent to 106.4% of the total population,” he stated.
Khumalo said this information was indicative of fertile ground in adopting digital means to serve SACCO membership.
He said digitalization was a good vehicle to reach out even to the youth in the country and other Emaswati in the diaspora in both the present and the future.
“Moreover, as Eswatini, we have the advantage of the Demographic Dividend. The youth in the country is more than 70 per cent of the entire population and almost all of these people have access to a mobile phone or similar gadget,” he said. He said the “Inclusion” agenda also requires that SACCOs bring the youth and other vulnerable groups to the centre of their development.
“I would, therefore, like to encourage SACCOs to budget for digitalization, it may seem very expensive, but it turns out to be affordable considering the benefits in the short, medium and long term,” Khumalo said.
The minister mentioned that he was fully aware that digitization comes with associated risks.
“There is already several of you that have suffered some losses due to fraudulent practices. I would like to encourage us all here to be vigilant and agile. Let us all adopt migratory measures and fight against those that are blocking our socio-economic progress through fraudulent practices,” the minister said.
The minister stated that quite frankly, he was excited that the Eswatini Royal Police Services (REPS) were very much on the ball, tracking and locating lawbreakers that take advantage of SACCOS and defraud them of their hardearned monies.
“In the same vein, may I also encourage ESASCCO to come up with Insurance products that are relevant to the digitalization move of the SACCOS,” he said.