By Esther Wodulo
As Uganda strives for inclusive economic growth, Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs) are proving to be more than community savings groups. They are becoming vital tools for expanding financial inclusion, reducing poverty and promoting gender equality. Today, SACCOs are well placed to improve household incomes while contributing to the country’s broader development agenda.
According to the Microfinance Support Centre and the Uganda Cooperative Alliance, Uganda has more than 11,000 registered SACCOs. However, only about 5,000 to 6,000 are active and fully operational. This is more than an administrative concern. It reflects the gap between what SACCOs could achieve and the contribution they are currently making to Uganda’s socio-economic development.
Having worked with SACCO members and cooperative institutions for more than a decade, I have seen how cooperative finance can transform lives. Beyond mobilising savings and providing loans, SACCOs are helping families build sustainable livelihoods, strengthen communities and create new economic opportunities.
Why SACCOs matter
Their importance becomes even more apparent when viewed against Uganda’s poverty situation. Although the country has made progress in reducing poverty, many people still struggle to make ends meet. Figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) show that about 20 per cent of Ugandans live below the national poverty line, with rural women and female-headed households among the most affected.
In his 2026 State of the Nation Address, President Yoweri Museveni said Uganda’s economic transformation will only be complete when households move from subsistence farming into the money economy. Government programmes such as the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga are intended to support this shift by promoting enterprise development, wealth creation and household income generation. However, without strong grassroots financial institutions to sustain these investments, such initiatives risk providing only short-term relief instead of lasting economic change.
Women at the centre of development
The link between poverty and gender inequality is evident across many communities. Women continue to face obstacles such as limited access to affordable credit, difficulties in owning land and low representation in financial leadership. Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo has argued that empowering women is not only a social goal but also an economic one. When women have access to financial resources and leadership opportunities, the benefits are felt by families, communities and the wider economy.
Uganda can also learn from experiences elsewhere in the region. In Rwanda, deliberate efforts to increase women’s participation in cooperative leadership have strengthened economic resilience and supported post-conflict recovery. Kenya has widened financial access by integrating SACCO services with digital finance and mobile money platforms such as M-Pesa, enabling millions of people, especially women entrepreneurs, to access financial services more easily. Tanzania has also strengthened women’s participation in agricultural value chains through cooperatives involved in coffee, dairy and horticulture production.
The way forward
Despite their promise, many SACCOs in Uganda continue to face familiar challenges. Weak governance, low levels of financial literacy, slow adoption of digital technologies and cultural barriers that limit women’s participation in leadership continue to affect their performance. In some cases, poor management and weak accountability have undermined members’ confidence and damaged the credibility of SACCOs.
To unlock their full potential, several reforms deserve urgent attention. The digitisation of SACCO operations should be accelerated to improve efficiency, transparency and accountability. Financial literacy programmes need to reach more people, particularly women and young people. Governance structures should promote gender-responsive leadership, while stronger regulatory oversight and institutional support from agencies such as the Microfinance Support Centre are essential to improve performance and restore public trust.
Uganda’s inclusive growth will not be achieved through policy statements alone. It will depend on strong community-based financial institutions that turn national ambitions into meaningful improvements in people’s lives. SACCOs should therefore be recognised not simply as community organisations but as strategic partners capable of connecting government wealth creation programmes with sustainable household economic empowerment.
With sound policies, effective leadership, greater accountability and a deliberate commitment to gender inclusion, SACCOs can become powerful drivers of equitable development, helping Uganda reduce poverty, promote gender equality and ensure that no community is left behind.
The writer is the Member Relations Officer at UN Staff SACCO.
