OPENING REMARKS BY EDUCATION & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CHAIRPERSON ON THE OCCASION OF CONCORDE REGULATED NON-WDTS SOCIETY LTD. EDUCATION DAY, SATURDAY 16TH JULY 2022 AT CENTENARY HOUSE, RING ROAD KILELESHWA

On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of Concorde Regulated Non-WDTS SACCO Society Ltd., I welcome you all to our 2022 Education Day.

This year’s Education Day is held at a time when the whole world is still reeling from the effects of a serious pandemic. Our society has borne the brunt of the pandemic as most of our members work within the aviation and hospitality industries which were the hardest hit. We therefore request you to come along with us in charting the best ways forward of rejuvenating our society and putting it back on track.

The Education & Business Development Committee:

The Education & Biz Dev Committee is made up of 3 Board Members and the Marketing and IT staff. Representing the Board are Mr. Fredrick Nambuya, Mr. Joel Oroto and myself. Our primary responsibility is to educate and inform members on matters of importance that affect them and our Sacco. We are also responsible for identifying new products & business opportunities to grow our Sacco as well as training needs for our Board members and staff to enable them to serve you more efficiently and effectively.

SASRA Regulations:

As communicated to Members during the 41st AGM in April this year, we achieved SASRA (Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority) authorization in December 2021. This means that we are now operating under very stringent compliance requirements. We have invited a very able gentleman, Mr. Anthony Njiru to take us through some of the implications of these regulations. There will be a question/answer session later so you are encouraged to write your questions as you listen.

Boards Strategic Plan 2022-2026

We are pleased to inform you that in June 2022, the Board of Directors (Management and Supervisory) and a few staff members sat together with a Consultant and crafted the new 5 year Strategic plan as promised in the 41st AGM held in April. We look forward to growing our Sacco and achieving all targets set.

Ushirika Day Celebrations:

This year’s Ushirika Day (International Co-operatives Day) was held at the KICC COMESA grounds on Saturday, 2nd July 2022. Though we did not participate in the adjudication exercise, we applaud the 16 members who made time to join the Board and staff members in gracing the occasion.

Corporate Social Responsibility:

Our last CSR activity was in the year 2018.The reason for this was the disruption to normal order occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in the year, we requested you, our members to suggest worthy projects that should be beneficiaries of your contributions. We received 25 responses. 5 were out of Nairobi therefore we only managed to vet 20 of them. We settled on three rescue & children’s homes namely, Baraka Children’s Home, Tamani Rescue Centre & Wings of Hope Children’s home. This criteria we used was based on need and current funding. We shall be inviting you to join us in the visits to these homes in due course.

Funding the activity:

As agreed in a past AGM, we deduct Kshs.50 from every member’s interest on deposits towards CSR. We have so far accumulated a total of Kshs.212,000 over the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. The Society matches this fund on a shilling for shilling basis meaning that we now have a kitty of Kshs.424,000.

Sacco Membership:

Our membership has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic because a number of our employer companies shut down their businesses and others downsized their workforce. In view of the fact that the COVID situation is slowly getting better, we have embarked on a strategy to recruit new members and ask for your support towards this end.  We shall be requesting for volunteers amongst our membership to serve as recruitment ambassadors for the Sacco.  Just as a reminder, anyone you recruit earns you 500kes into your deposits.

Technology:

We have enhanced the use of technology and encourage you to come along with us. Our communication channels include Facebook, Twitter, Bulk SMSs, WhatsApp, Emails and through our Website. We encourage you to interact with us on the social media platforms.

The newest kid on the block is the USSD code *477# which not only gives you access to our popular mobile loan product the “Concorde Flash” but also allows you to access other services such as:

• Repayment of Loans
• Paying member deposits
• Generating a mini statement
• Balance enquiries

The beauty of the USSD is that your loans and deposits accounts in the Sacco are updated instantly without manual intervention.

Our Products:

Savings Products:

• Non-Withdrawable Deposits:

These form the basis of a Sacco. The current minimum is Kshs.2,500 per month and every member is encouraged to save as much as they can. Reasons for this are that;

• The Society uses these deposits to finance your loans hence interest on loans remains competitive as opposed to borrowing from banks to finance loan demand.
• You earn interest on deposits hence the higher the deposits the higher the interest.
• Deposits form the basis of lending (4 times multiplier). High deposits mean high loan qualification.
• Share Capital:

This is a legal requirement for all Saccos. Currently, every member of our Sacco must hold a minimum of Kshs.10,000 (subject to change based on regulatory threshold). This is non-withdrawable but can be transferred to another member upon resignation from the Society. Members earn dividends on share capital.

• Junior Savings:

This is open to members’ children aged below 18 years. The minimum contribution is Kshs.500 per month. This can be withdrawn once every 6 months, however we encourage members to use this platform to develop your childrens saving culture from an early stage. The interest earning threshold is Kshs.5,000 payable at the end of the financial year.

• Holiday Savings:

Members can save voluntarily for holiday excursions. Members can withdraw funds from this account at their convenience hence it does not earn interest.

Loans Products:

Nafuu Loan:

In addition to the usual loan products, we introduced this product in mid-2020 to allow members adversely affected by COVID-19 to consolidate their loans and extend the repayment period hence regularizing their loans and getting out of default. We strongly encourage those in default or struggling with the monthly repayments to get in touch with the secretariat for more information on how this product can help you. Defaulters will not only regularize their loans but also help the Sacco reduce the Portfolio at Risk, hence enhance compliance with SASRA.

Concorde Flash:

We reinstated this product in October 2021. This is a mobile loan product and is currently accessible by dialing USSD code *477# and following the prompts. You can access this product at any time as long as you qualify for it. You only need to have a mobile phone and shares. We encourage you all to patronize it.

With these few remarks, I take this opportunity to thank you all for taking the time to come today and for paying your loans timely.

I would like to now invite our speaker for the day Mr. Anthony Njiru. Kindly give him a warm welcome.

Janette Rubadiri

CHAIRPERSON – EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Concorde Sacco

EDUCATION DAY 2022 MATERIAL DOWNLOAD