SACCOS is defined as “a group of persons, with a legal personality, not for profit, with open-ended capital, based on principles of unity, solidarity and mutual assistance, whose primary purpose is to take savings from its members and grant them loans” Also, SACCOS is defined by the Cooperative Act as, a registered society whose principal objects are to encourage thrift among its members and to create source of credit to its members.
- In order to start your own SACCOS, you will need at least 20 founding members and to decide what your common bond will be.
- You will need to convey the first members meeting to which the Cooperative Officer will be the chairman
- Agreement made from the first meeting shall be implemented within a given specific period
- You will need to complete an economic viability form and have an initial working capital of at least Tshs. 10 million which can be made up of shares and savings.
- Once the SACCOS is registered, you will need to elect Board members consisting of between 5 and 9 members.
- More procedures and conditions to register and operate the SACCOS is guided by the Cooperative Act No.6 of 2013, Microfinance Act No.10 of 2018 and its Regulations of 2019.
A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. There are seven basic principles of cooperative which are: i. Voluntary and Open Membership ii. Democratic Member Control iii. Member Economic Participation iv. Autonomy and Independence v. Education, Training and Information vi. Cooperation among Cooperatives vii. Concern for the Community
- Get close support and assistance in various issues
- Have an advocate and a representative
- Cost relief in various services
- Ability to get funds through Central Finance Facility (CFF) when facing liquidity challenge
- Participate in various activities privileged to members only
Participation fee for each training amounts to Tshs.200,000/= for normal trainings with exception to the Managers roundtable meeting which costs Tsh.250,000. There are other trainings that can be sponsored by stakeholders the cost may be lower than the said especially to our members.