The Chairperson of the Credit Union, Mr. Aaron Sagoe, presents the 35th AGM report.
REPORT FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Tema Metro Director of Department of Co-operatives, the Tema Chapter Manager of CUA, the Audit Team, Fellow Co-operators, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
Today marks the end of another chapter in the life of our credit union. It is heart-warming to know that the journey we started about four years ago has come to a successful end and together we can all be proud of the achievements of our credit union during these difficult and turbulent times not only in our country but throughout the world.
The years preceding our assumption of office was a difficult period as far as the economy was concerned. Our credit union lost a significant proportion of our investment through the financial sector clean up exercise embarked upon by the Government.
On assumption of office, we realised that amidst the uncertainty and doubts in peoples’ minds with respect to saving and investing with financial institutions, there was a need to create an environment of trust spearheaded by effective leadership that is committed to setting high goals and disciplining ourselves to achieve them.
During our term of office, the union was able to achieve consistent net surplus over the years and declared attractive dividends to members and this year will not be an exception. The union acquired the building that hosted our Ashaiman Main Branch and we can modestly say that we are landlords not only in Tema but also in Ashaiman.
We also successfully relocated the Community 8 branch to Community 2 in order to cater for the needs of our members in the port area. At last year’s AGM, we were witnesses to the outdooring of state of the art renovated F. E. Daniels building which has allowed us rebrand our union and set it in motion to become the ‘leading and dependable credit union in the country’ with the mission of “empowering our members economically through the provision of sound financial services”. My fellow co-operators, these are but a few of the achievements our union has attained during the term of office of the current Board.
The union could not have achieved these significant objectives without the support of the dedicated Management and staff of the union. The growth of every institution depends mainly on its human capital and our union has made it a priority to invest in the human resources. In the light of this, we have empowered our branches to be autonomous by creating branch heads who attend to members’ needs without members having to travel to the head office for their routine transactions.
We have also promoted and recruited substantive Managers for the Human Resource, Finance, Credit, Marketing, IT and Audit Departments to augment the good work of the leadership.
I want to use this occasion to officially welcome the newly appointed and highly qualified Managers to our credit union. We expect that with your experience as well as contribution and the support of the existing staff, you will drive North Tema into achieving our mission. Our expectations of you are very high indeed and we believe that over the years, you will justify the decisions we made in bringing you on board.
MEMBERSHIP
In the 2023 financial year, our membership increased from 10,116 to 11,564 indicating a significant increase of 14.31%. Our overall objective in respect of membership should be to make North Tema Credit Union a household name in Tema and its environs.
Over the years the traditional method of increasing membership by existing members talking to and persuading potential members to join the union has served us well. We encourage members to keep on spreading the good news of the benefits we derive from being members of North Tema Credit Union. We predict that with the addition of a professional marketer to the staff, our numbers will see a significant growth in the coming years and member satisfaction will be the hallmark of the union.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Ladies and gentlemen, Needless to state that the term of office of the current board has been bedevilled by a number of issues which affected our financial performance over the years. 2023 financial year was no exception and the economy was tested beyond limits.
Despite these external challenges which are beyond our control, we are pleased to inform members that our Credit Union saw reasonable increase in terms of total assets, deposit mobilization, income generation and net surplus for the financial year under consideration.
Once again, as Chairman of the Board, I want to thank you for supporting the activities, initiatives and products of our credit union. Together as a big happy family we are making an impact on lives and that of the society at large.
Total Asset
The total assets of the union at the end of the 2023 financial year was GHC 74,142.113.71 as compared to the sum of GHC 62,501,060.78 in the 2022 financial year indicating an increment of 18.63%. The Auditors in the 2022 financial year report recommended that the union should set aside our funds with the defunct investment houses.
It is worth mentioning that the aforementioned total assets excludes the investment funds set aside. We want to assure members that even though the amount has been set aside, we have not relinquished efforts to recover the investment sum and as a result we have engaged the services of a debt collector to act on our behalf and use all available legal means to recover our investments.
Deposit
During the year under review, the union mobilized the sum of GHC 60,625,314.32 in the form of savings, current account, fixed deposit, daily deposit account, kiddy account and Me-daakye Anidaso. Compared to previous year’s deposit mobilization of GH45,781,716.41, there is an increment of 32.42%.
The Board and Management wishes to remind members that the union’s collaboration with United Bank of Africa (UBA) regarding the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Direct Debit system into the Union’s operations to help members set direct debit with their respective bankers is progressing well and would encourage members to take advantage of the product to solve their needs.
Additionally the union during the term of office of the current Board have steadily increased the minimum monthly savings to GHC200.00. We, therefore, encourage members to adhere to the minimum savings in order to grow their investments as well as increase their capacity to borrow.
Loans
In all 4,530 loans were disbursed to the tune of GHC41,323,540.00 in the year under review as compared to GHC25,206,220.00 in 2022 financial year indicating an increment of 63.94%.
To help boost the loan portfolio of the union, the Board introduced the Special Business Loan in addition to the traditional products of the union. The Special Business Loan is a product that is designed to support medium scale businesses and it is heartening to state that clearing agents and freight forwarders who have personal accounts with the union have taken advantage of the product to clear their goods from the port and there are success stories to narrate in the 2023 financial year.
Delinquency
Fellow Co-operators, North Tema Credit Union is a community based Credit Union that relies on the accumulation of the savings of its members in order to provide loans to meet their financial needs of members. This is known as the philosophy of ‘People helping People’. Member borrowers therefore have responsibility to repay their loans on time for the smooth running of the union. The union has put in place many avenues for members to repay their loans including walk-in, mobile money through the Union’s momo account, mobile money through ‘Deposit Made Easy’, post-dated cheques among others.
We want to urge members to make it their obligation to pay back their loans to enable the union meet the CUA accepted standards of 5%.
A committee has been set up to recover all outstanding loans from members and they will be calling on recalcitrant defaulters to honour their financial obligation to the union.
Member Share
The Union’s Member share capital increased from GHC2,392,264.58 to GHC2,976,778.81 indicating 24.43% growth. The minimum shares a member must have in our credit union is GHC300.00. We cannot over emphasise the importance of members increasing their shares in order to make them stakeholders of our credit union. We entreat members to go above the minimum shares and own the society by increasing their share values.
Surplus
Ladies and Gentlemen, due to prudent and diligent decisions taken by the Board and Management of our credit union, our surpluses keeps on improving year after year. In 2023 financial year, our net surplus was GHC3,024,046.90 as compared with the sum of GHC2,346,933.92 indicating an increment of 28.85%.
Dividend
To continue with prudent management of our funds for the growth of the union, we propose the payment of 25% dividends on members’ shares. As usual we recommend that half of the dividends should be paid into member’s current account and the other half added to their shares.
NEW INITIATIVE
One of the objectives the current Board of Directors set ourselves when we assumed office was the relocation of our office at Community One from the first floor to a ground floor office to enable members have easy access. Just when we thought that our term of office has come to an end and we cannot achieve that objective and as provident will have it, a property at the heart of the Community One became available and we have commenced the process of acquiring it for the purpose of putting up a modern office facility that befits the status of our credit union.
CONCLUSION
The most important and relevant of all the resources of the union are the members, without whom the union will not exist, grow and develop. It is for this reason that we have chosen for this year’s AGM the theme “North Tema Credit Union – one family, one goal, success for all”. Our credit union has always been one big happy family with the goal of creating wealth for its members in order to economically emancipate them and success is guaranteed for all who follow the principles by saving and investing the surplus funds available to the individual. I urge all of us to proudly associate ourselves with North Tema Credit Union and take advantage of the benefits it offers.
I want to use this occasion to express my profound gratitude to you the members for having me as your chairman for these four wonderful years in the life of our credit union. Without your support and patronage of the union’s products and services, there will be very little to write about.
I want to say thank you to my fellow Board members and the various committees for your guidance and co-operation during our term of office.
I want to say thank you to the Management and Staff for going the extra mile to ensure that members are satisfied with the services we render.
I want to thank our Regulators that is Department of Co-Operatives, CUA as well as all the auditors we have worked with during our term of office. Your observations and recommendations have shaped us into becoming a recognisable credit union in the country.
Last but not the least, I want to say thank you to the incoming Board of Directors for offering yourselves and accepting to continue the work for the good of our union and mankind. I want to assure you of our constant prayers and support in the background.
North Tema Credit Union is in a good place and we encourage you to do your best in making the founding fathers proud of the legacy they bequeathed to us.
GOD BLESS YOU
GOD BLESS NORTH TEMA CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT UNION
GOD BLESS OUR HOME LAND GHANA.