Axim credit union helps members

Story: Kwame Asiedu Marfo, Takoradi
13/03/08
The Axim Road Community Co-operative Credit Union (ARCCU) in Takoradi has granted a total loan of GH¢1,299,000 out of about GH¢1,432,000 total savings to its members.
The union’s net surplus went up from GH¢33,000 in 2006, representing 69 per cent, to GH¢59,000 or 78 per cent last year.
Liquid investment of the union also increased from GH¢230,000 to GH¢390,000, representing 70 per cent, while total assets increased from GH¢1,040,000 to GH¢1,820,000, an increase of 75 per cent.
The Chairman of ARCCU, Mr Isaac Sam-Cudjoe, announced this at the eighth annual general meeting of the union in Takoradi.
The active membership of the union has increased from 2,974 to 3,711, representing a growth of 25 per cent.
He said the board of directors had entreated all members, especially those who had defaulted, to pay up their loans for others to benefit.
He added that management would be compelled to take stringent measures to retrieve all loans.
Mr Sam-Cudjoe said the board remained committed to improving the size of dividend paid on members’ shares.
This year, he said, based on the sustained increase in the net surplus, the board recommended ten per cent to be paid on members’ shares as against six per cent last year.
Furthermore, he said the board remained proactive and focused on improving services rendered to members.
He said the board had also provided logistics to promote effective work on the part of the staff.
"Our credit union is also active in micro-financing business’’, he said, adding that “currently, over 500 of our members are patronising the product.’’
He added that in order to strengthen, monitor and improve its operations, the board had ordered Saving Boxes to be given to members.
Mr Sam-Cudjoe therefore appealed to members who would benefit from these boxes to make effective use of them by saving regularly.
Even though the union had been doing well over the years, he said there were a few challenges confronting it.
One of the challenges, he said, was loan recovery, adding: "Our loan monitoring and recovery have to be strengthened in order to reduce delinquency to a reasonably low level".
Also, he said savings mobilisation was a challenge and anticipated that the union would have net savers, explaining that "members will regularly save more".
Another challenge, he said, was the establishment of a permanent office which would build confidence, good image and goodwill among members.
"Our consistent and sustained achievements reflect our good leadership skills and it is imperative to keep it working for the benefit of our members", he added.
The Manager of ARCCU, Mr Alexander Odoikwei Sackeyfio, said in the wake of the government’s strategy in poverty alleviation, management of the credit union was looking forward to providing services that would go a long way to creating wealth for the ordinary person.
He said management’s agenda was to provide training to all levels of staff to sharpen their skills in service delivery and also to use the electronic system in the delivery of their services.