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Reducing poverty in Eswatini
Eswatini
Eswatini Association of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (ESASCCO) was established in 1988 to empower the Eswatini nation economically through the cooperative approach. Today ESASCCO is a parent body of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in the country. It provides SACCOs with a range of services that enable them to better serve their respective members at grassroots level, improving their financial strength, while maintaining the highest ethical standards.
Customer base
24,000+ previously unbanked members
Segment
Micro financing
Mambu's role
Cloud banking platform
ESASCCO is a not-for-profit organisation and purely member-benefit driven. Many of its members and customers are very poor and come from vulnerable groups. Given the lack of resources and financial education of members that predominantly live in rural areas, the gap in access to modern financial products and services is exacerbated for them.
To broaden the reach, ESASCCO joined forces with the Deutscher Genossenschafts-und Raiffeisenverband e.V. (DGRV), a not-for-profit NGO, that works overseas as part of the German development cooperation to support cooperatives and cooperative structures.
Approach
ESASCCO engaged Mambu in 2017 and implemented its composable platform in 2018. With Mambu, ESASCCO can provide its SACCO customers with low-cost and flexible savings and loan products. Consecutively, the SACCO members have been able to access their accounts, statements and run self-loan pre-qualification assessments.
Results
Thanks to the cloud, ESASCCO is progressively easing access to banking services and products for the unbanked. At the heart of its approach is a dedicated community of more than 24,000 SACCO members. The migration to Mambu has empowered them and given them control over their finances 24/7.
- Simplified and modern money transfers
- Improved communication and connectivity
- Secure banking
- Lifeline during COVID-19
ESASCCO demonstrates how strategic partnerships can play an important role in raising financial inclusion in difficult economic and political circumstances.
