Slums-centred Sacco to diversify at its defining moment

Steve Umidha @UmidhaSteve

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) Sacco which leverages slums for bank accounts and credit access without collateral with Sh100 has now tapped 4,000 members.

After five years, the sacco formed in 2015 is considering opening doors to non-members despite its clientele being communities living in the slums, its Manager Collins Odongo has said.

The manager said this development will see the Kibera-based savings and credit cooperative society increase credit offering amid a surge in demand for cheap loans among lower income households.

Restructuring

“This is something we are considering and we are talking internally to see how best we can roll it out but our main focus at the moment is to spread our operations in all slums across the country,” he said.

Speaking on Saturday during the Sacco’s fifth  anniversary, Odongo said the institution will also extend capital relief to struggling businesses and individuals hit by the coronavirus pandemic, through loans restructuring and moratorium.

“We have restructured loans worth over Sh10 million since April when the pandemic hit and we hope to extend this to more families affected,” he said

The Central Bank directed SMEs to restructure loans with lenders coming to their rescue.

Up to 86 per cent of the Sacco’s members are women, a fact that Shofco’s chief executive Kennedy Odede attributes to the demographics in most slums across the country and mainly Nairobi.