Ruth Madl, country Director of the German Organization for the Training of Microfinance Institutions, DSIK [German Sparkassenstifutung for International Cooperation] indicated that Rwanda is close to achieving the goal of universal and transparent financial services, thanks to the program to bring microfinance institutions to the people, especially Sacco Sectors.
Ruth Madl announced this on Wednesday 22/2023 when about 110 employees of microfinance institutions in Rwanda received certificates after a year of training by DSIK in collaboration with the Cooperative Training Institute, entrepreneurs and companies.
microfinance (RICEM), RDB and others.
Madl said that given the level that Rwanda has achieved in spreading the Sacco sector among the people, it puts it first in Africa in decentralizing financial institutions to the people.
She said, “The fact that the Sacco sectors are in each sector, makes them very close to the people and they can see how they deposit and withdraw loans and that is why the people are reached by the services of financial institutions in Rwanda, considering that it is almost 100% compared to other African countries.”
All 416 sectors in Rwanda have been included in the Sector Sacco program and there are some cases where it is necessary to have branches depending on the size of the sector.
Madl said that what is left now is to build the capacity of the employees of these financial institutions to provide better services to their customers.
She said, “It is good to be given knowledge like this because on top of the knowledge they have shared, they can also be shown how to put it to work and this method has made almost 90% get jobs when they leave school and those who are at work have increased productivity.”
The CEO of RICEM, Olivier Mukulira, pointed out that the use of workers without experience and timely training is a loss for financial institutions.
He said, “Whether it’s bad financial management, not knowing how to track and properly manage loans, not knowing how to provide clients with everything they need has had an impact on financial management.”
Gikungu Jean Claude, an employee of SACCO Gatenga in Kicukiro District, expressed that the knowledge of many students about economics and finance leaving school is not enough to produce the right results, which is why he considers training to be important.
He said, “When you get to work, you look like someone who is starting anew because what we learn in school is like a way to help you get to work, here, unlike in school, you learn in a normal way but you go to work.”
He pointed out that there is a need for efforts to combine this knowledge with accelerating the use of technology in the Sacco sector, so that users can access services wherever they are.
Currently, Rwanda has reached an average of 93% in providing financial services to the population, according to a study known as Finscope.
