Credit Unions Association ‘s objective is to nurture youth – National Board Chairman
Mr Cyprian K. A. Basing, National Board Chairman of Credit Unions Association (CUA) has noted that one key objective of the Association is to nurture the youth to become responsible and less extravagant leaders in future.
He said CUA has therefore introduced youth savings clubs in about 50 second cycle schools, while efforts are on-going for every credit union to adopt one youth savings club and inculcate the habit of saving in members before they become employable.
Mr Basing made this known at this year’s International Credit Union Day celebration in Wa at the weekend on the theme: “Credit unions build a better world.”
He asked the credit unions, especially those in the Upper West Region to embrace the CUA initiative and adopt youth savings clubs so as to discourage the youth from thinking that getting societal respect was through fast track means of acquiring wealth.
Mr Basing said CUA is ready to collaborate with government and other development agencies to help reduce poverty at the micro level under the Millennium Development Goals for the achievement of the Better Ghana agenda.
He said CUA has a clear and insistent desire to help government to reduce poverty, explaining that the development of financially sustainable and well governed financial institutions in every small community could help achieve the goal.
“The common objective of fighting poverty and creating wealth for all should be devoid of politics, partisanship, (ethnicity) and other causes of social disunity,”, the Board Chairman said.
Mr Basing appealed to Parliament to pass the Credit Union Legislative Instrument into law, saying credit unions could only survive when their operations are regulated by laws that are relevant in modern times.
Alhaji Issahaque Salia, Regional Minister who was the special guest of honour, expressed regret that many people in Ghana are still wallowing in abject poverty because they cannot access credit.
He appealed to CUA to intensify its operations to reach out to people in the rural areas and provide them with financial assistance and technical advice to help them out poverty.
He commended CUA for empowering women financially to undertake income generating ventures to improve on their livelihoods.
Alhaji Salia asked credit unions in the region to help sustain the establishment of youth saving clubs in schools, saying if the programme is properly managed, it would assist the youth to become self-employed.
At present, there are about 525 credit union in Ghana, with a total membership of 550,000 operating under the apex body of the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association Limited.
The CUA has a vision to develop into a sustainable financial institution that could create an enabling environment for credit unions’ operations.
Source: GNA