Saccos continue to become more popular, especially with people who have had very few successs when it comes to acquiring loans from bank. A few years ago, Mary Mugana- Mesh almost lost a 34-seater matatu she had bought through a bank loan. The rates charged almost drove her crazy. She was about to give up in the matatu business, a trade passion she shares with her husband.

For two years she was continuously under pressure, and scared what she will do if she lost the vehicle. “However, now I have something to smile about,” she said. 

The loan amounted to Sh500,000 and the bank was charging a 12 per cent. Six months ago Mesh walked into a bank to cash a cheque of over Sh1 million to buy her second matatu and today she sleeps easy and continues with her professional career not worried about stressing phone calls from banks. Mesh is a beneficiary of Shining Hope For Communities (Shofco) Sacco which boasts loans that are of low interest rates compared to  peers which she has invested in. 

“One of the things I have been happy about from last year is getting a big loan which financed a big investment,” Mesh said. Julius Ingutia, a resident of Kibera is another proud beneficiary of Shofco after accessing an almost interest free loan to buy a car. 

“The Sacco has been beneficial to me an d has helped me to take my children to school, and recently supported me to buy a car at oe per cent interest rate,” he said. Shofco chairman, Kennedy Odede said for an organisation that started from a humble background, having disbursed up to Sh300 million in loans is not a mean feat.                              – George Kebaso