Ahead of the inaugural SACCOTECH forum, CIO East Africa; the entity organising the event, has officially launched the advisory board that will assist in organising the event.
In a bid to accelerate the growth of SACCOs as the country moves towards digitized transactions that will impact everyone in the retail chain, CIO East Africa incorporated a select few individuals to the SACCOTECH Forum Advisory Board purposed to do the following: –
- Develop an insightful SACCOTECH Forum Agenda
- Identifying Speakers and Moderators for the SACCOTECH Forum
- Proposing potential partners/sponsors of SACCOTECH Forum
- Volunteering to moderate some panel sessions during the event
“The growth trajectory gained by deposit-taking Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in 2017 was according to key financial growth parameters appealing. With total assets increasing to Ksh 442.27 billion in 2017, it reflected a growth rate of 12.4 percent from the previous year. The total loans shot to Ksh 331.2 billion reflecting a hike of 11.29 percent from 2016; while deposits grew to Ksh 305.3 billion reflecting a growth rate of 12 percent from the previous year,” noted Laura Chite, CIO East Africa, CEO.
“Unlike in the banking sector, this growth has happened with very little technological interventions, but the sector is now ripe for technology driven efficiencies and innovation. To digitally transform and deploy technologies to meet changing customer demands and transform the customer experience, It is against this background that CIO East Africa is hosting the premier SaccoTech Summit,” Ms Chite added.
The forum will be held under the guise of insightful industry engagement themed: “Harnessing Technology in SACCOs for Socio-Economic Development”. The event is aimed at bringing together stakeholders from the SACCOs comprising; the industry regulator, policy makers in the financial services industry, technology industry players to explore how innovation can strengthen and catalyze the growth of the deposit-taking SACCOs in the quest of harnessing socio-economic development in Kenya.
“The East Africa SaccoTech Forum purposes to explore technology use-case sand discuss ways in which the Sacco Societies can effectively identify, adopt and benefit from the implementation of disruptive technologies including Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.” Chite concluded.
Click here to learn more about the SACCOTECH forum which is set for the 10th of April 2019.
The SACCOTECH board members include: