The University of Cape Coast (UCC) Co-operative Credit Union has recorded a net surplus of GH₵ 2,108,038.37 this year higher than the projected figure of GH₵ 2,027,620.
It has therefore, declared a 25 per cent dividend amounting to GH₵ 2527, 009.84.
The Board Chairman of UCC Co-operative Credit Union, Eric P. Mensah gave the figures at the 24th annual general meeting of the organisation in Cape Coast.
The meeting was also used to launch a new scheme known as Personal Development Account (PDA) with the view of offering members the opportunity to grow the funds.
The new scheme was short term in nature with members depositing their funds for three months and above.
Mr Mensah stated that the performance of the union improved significantly in all areas due to the measures adopted and implemented by the board of directors.
“Our credit union achieved one of the best results in the history of our union in spite of the external environment that threatened the financial sector in general,” he said.
He said “We performed well in all parameters used by the Credit Union Association (CUA) annually to classify all credit unions in the country. We are happy to inform you that we got the maximum points (220) to maintain our position in a category “A” in the industry.”
He announced a proposal to increase the minimum shares from GH₵ 300 to GH₵500 for a period of 20 months starting from January 2020 to which members gave their approval.
Touching on the challenges, Mr Mensah mentioned excessive savings withdrawals without recourse to laid down withdrawal policy as a major problem confronting the union.
“Members’ gross savings for the year amounted to GH₵ 16,991,699. Withdrawal for the same period amounted to GH ₵14, 005, 360,” he said.
He expressed optimism that the cleanup of the financial sector would promote confidence in the sector.
Mr Mensah indicated that the current membership of the union was 4,700 after a clean-up of the membership register to make it credible.
“The Board will continue to ensure that we always have a credible register. This exercise will eventually save us from paying more dues and dividend to underserved persons,” he said.
He gave the assurance of the board’s commitment in completing all on-going projects and programmes, improvement in the SMS alert system as well as the introduction of more products.
Touching on the personal development account scheme, Mr Mensah explained that, the account could be used as an avenue for accumulating start-up capital for members who want to enter into a business or embark on a project.
He appealed to Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of savings and desist from spending their resources on certain things that would not be beneficial in the long term.
From David O. Yarboi-Tetteh, Cape Coast
