[FEATURED] Cooperatives Day celebrated with call for more productivity

Rwanda Cooperatives Agency (RCA) has urged members of cooperatives to increase their production capacity and savings to be able to widen their investment portfolio. The call was on Saturday during the celebrations to mark the International Cooperative Day in an event held in Mudende Sector in Rubavu District. The day, which was marked under the theme: “Sustainable consumption and production, brought together government officials and cooperative representatives from across the country among others. The day is usually marked on July 7 but in Rwanda, the celebration was pushed for a week of July as it coincided with activities organised to mark the Liberation Day, according to Jean Bosco Harelimana, the Director General of RCA. He mentioned that the event is an opportunity to increase awareness on cooperatives, review previous performances of cooperatives and reflect on the way forward ensuring sustainability at the core of their activities. “Cooperatives have demonstrated capacity to develop their members, and play a significant role in supporting the socio-economic development of the country by alleviating poverty, generating employment among others. “However, the current the level of productivity is still low. We want them to make new strategic plans to boost their output leading to members’ self-reliance while also keeping enough for the bigger market,” he argued. According to RCA, Cooperatives have been increasing in numbers from 946 in 2006 to 8,800 to date made by over 3 million members with 45 billion share capital. On the other hand, the Governor of the Western Province, Alphonse Munyentwali stressed the importance of cooperatives, saying that once properly managed, they have shown the potential of a high multiplier effect, hence uplifting many from poverty in a short time. He commended those who took the first step to embrace the cooperatives, and are already reaping big from their good business decision. “We don’t want anyone to miss out on the rewards of working together. Let’s us all join cooperatives. The government will always be there to give any needed assistance to make this sector the best it can be. He added that proper management is key to cooperatives’ success. Thus, said the Governor, cooperatives managers should also abide by standard management principles and continuously take any opportunity to upgrade their knowledge. At this occasion, three best cooperatives namely KOTANOMU Ubumwe cooperative, COFAR, and Umurenge SACCO Seruka were recognized and awarded with trophies. The criteria for the award included governance and financial management practices, diversity of membership (with focus on women and youth), the levels of investment and promotion of Made in Rwanda Aaron Rukundo the president of KOTANOMU Ubumwe, which brings together motorcyclists operating in Musanze District, said it was an honor to be recognized among the best performers. He attributed their success to good leadership practices, proper management of funds as well as putting into practice the guidence from their supervisors. Rukundo said that the cooperative currently brings together 1,260 members. In five years they have been able to achieve not only at individual level but also came up with bigger projects including a Rwf160 million commercial building in Musanze town, and purchased two plots of land worth Rwf 40million. “To make our activities significant and target oriented, we design a strategic plan of activities which is reviewed and approved by every member. As a bigger project we have within our 5 years vision, we want to build Rwf3bn Hotel in Kinigi by 2023,” he said. As an advice for other cooperatives, Rukundo mentioned that the pillar of a successful cooperative is to have a good leadership that works for the interest of all members and having a clear vision of what you want to achieve and make sure all members own that vision which will make them participate towards achieving that goal.

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[FEATURED] Cooperatives Day celebrated with call for more productivity