Rural Financial Services Programme

Rural Finance Services Programme

The programme supports the efforts of the Government and other development partners to build a strong, extensive rural finance system. The objective is to increase the capacity of the poorest rural people to save, acquire assets and invest in production and enterprises.

In 2006, IFAD restructured the programme in accordance with the Government’s new Rural Financial Services Strategy, and oriented support exclusively towards savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs). The specific aim is to increase poor rural people’s access to financial services by increasing the outreach and sustainability of selected SACCOs.

The savings component is the key to SACCO sustainability, inasmuch as it makes it possible for individuals and groups to mobilize resources for loans and investments from within the cooperatives. The programme aims at strengthening the institutional support framework of apex institutions and networks, and at ensuring that SACCOs are linked to commercial financial institutions and regulatory and supervisory bodies. Through the programme, IFAD supports the Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union, the primary apex organization for SACCOs. IFAD assumed responsibility for direct supervision of the programme in October 2009.

Source: IFAD