Susu Collectors Association cashed in GHC461, 763.79 in 2016

The Ghana Co-Operative Susu Collectors Association, in 2016 expanded their revenue to GHC461, 763.79.

The figure represents a drop of 12 per cent of the 2015 revenue, Mr Emmanuel Kennedy Amankwah, the President of the Association said on Thursday.

He explained that due to the fall in revenue, the Association was forced to cut down on some cost centres so as to stay inline and afloat.

The Association also recorded a net surplus of GHC16, 578.86 representing an increase of one per cent over previous period.

Assets grew by 98 per cent to 432,633.72; however this was largely due to an increase in account receivables which stood at GHC308, 061.00 of which GHC200, 000.00 was in respect to the Avar loan.

Mr Amankwah was speaking at the Association’s 11th annual general meeting on the theme: “Digitizing Susu to Improve Efficiency.”

The major cost centres for the Association, he reiterated, included staff cost, monitoring and supervision expenses and orientation cost and administrative cost.

He therefore assured contributors that the board and management were doing all it could to retrieve their money.

He also urged government to pay critical attention to the microfinance sector by providing incentives which would nurture the industry to grow.

Mr Yaw Gyamfi, the Executive Director of GHAMFIN, lauded the Ghana CO-Operative Susu Collectors Association for their move of working through digitization, and urged them to guard against the challenges of 2016.

He said: “We want to see efficiency and the survival of the Susu business, because going digital would make you efficient, cut down cost and have a reliable working relationship with your clients”.

Mr Gyamfi stressed that digitization had become the order of business and through that laudable move, the Association could use their quota and space to contribute to national development.

Dr William Derban, the Director, Strategic Partnership and E-Banking at Fidelity Bank, encouraged the Association to build partnership with stakeholders in the banking and telecommunications industries as digitization was not just about rebranding but required extensive collaboration.

“You need a proper business model where your relevance in the market would be felt, so I urge you to concentrate on effective partnership building approach,” he said.

Mr Derban also urged Ghana CO-Operative Susu Collectors Association to have new revenue lines as such system formed part of the ecosystems, adding that “Work with partners to design new models to grow your business”.

He, therefore, encouraged them to document and digitized their information when gathered at all times.

Mr Godwin Anku, the representative from the Ministry of Finance, Financial Sector Division, assured the Association of government’s readiness in complementing their efforts towards digitization to ensure productivity in the sector.