By Prince Acquah, GNA
Cape Coast, Dec. 23, GNA – The University of Cape Coast Co-operative Credit Union Limited has reported significant growth in its membership and financial performance despite the economic challenges in 2024.
The co-operative ended the year 2024 with a total asset of GHC 70 million, a significant improvement on the 2023 amount of GHC58 million.
Its equity also reached GHC24 million in 2024 from GHC20 million in 2023.
Mr Vincent Yamoah, the Manager of the Co-operative, announced the development in his report at their 29th Annual General Meeting and 54th anniversary in Cape Coast.
The occasion also swore in a newly elected Board of Directors chaired by Mr Theophilus Attram Nartey, a lecturer at UCC, and committee members.
A roll of honour was also unveiled in honour of past and present leadership of the Union.
He indicated that the year under review was challenging but rewarding, commending the resilience and commitment of the leadership and staff and the loyalty of the members over the years.
He said they ramped up their digitalisation efforts to introduce online membership application and built a system for bank and mobile money withdrawals.
Mr Yamoah reported that the organisation intensified membership drive through a sustained social media campaign and expressed optimism for a significant increase in membership in the coming years.
“We will continue to invest in our people and technology, and impact our community,” he said, with an assurance that “we are going to work even harder to improve our visibility in the Central Region and in Ghana.”
In spite of the successes recorded, he said the co-operative’s major challenge had been excessive withdrawals by members which weakened the financial position of the organisation.
He admitted the current economic hardship but urged discipline among members.
“The concept of the credit union is to encourage members to save and so irrespective of the difficulty, please discipline yourselves and increase your savings so that in times of difficulties you will have something significant to fall on,” he said.
Madam Charity Abraham, outgoing Board Chairperson of the Cooperative, accounting for her stewardship, said they took over in 2021 with a membership of 5,000 and increased it to 16,900 through improved digital system and enhanced service delivery.
She entreated the new board and management team to deepen engagement with the youth and women as started by the outgoing leadership.
“The youth have their way of doing things and so if you think that they feel entitled and don’t know how to handle position, then you are making a mistake. They are key because when we fail to engage the youth, we fail to sustain our credit union,” she stressed.
Mr Nartey, the new Board Chair, sharing his vision, announced plans to introduce a pension scheme to encourage members to save more towards retirement.
“We want to make sure that members will have a retirement package that is well grounded and sustainable to support them when they are no longer active,” he said.
Mr Cyprian Basing, the CEO of the Credit Union Association of Ghana (CUA), commended the UCC Co-operative for their reliable financial services to members, consistent sound governance, and discipline, despite the economic and regulatory challenges.
He urged the newly elected executives to approach their responsibilities with unity of purpose, professionalism, and a strong sense of leadership to push the union to higher heights.
“In doing so, I urge you to focus on strengthening systems, deepening good governance and enhancing service delivery to members,” he stressed.
“The sustainability of the credit union will depend on our willingness to embrace innovation, strengthen internal controls and invest in people,” he added.
Mr Basing pledged the mother union’s continuous support for the UCC union through advocacy, capacity building, supervisory support, policy guidance, and institutional strengthening.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey/Linda Asante Agyei