POWER TALK: Stima DT SACCO's 50-year success and future plans

Speaking to Citizen TV's Power Talk, Stima DT Sacco CEO Dr. Gamaliel Hassan said over this period, the Sacco's membership has grown from six to 217000. 

"We were the first Sacco to reduce our minimum entry in terms of share capital, we only put it at Ksh500 and there is a reasoning behind that. You'd find the mama mbogas, fish mongers, shoe cobblers who were savi as little as Ksh.20 per day, but now they are saving between Ksh.500 to Ksh.1000 a day" Dr. Hassan said. 

He says this has been possible because the Sacco has been able to build capacity for them to be able to save enough money to invest.

Dr. Hassan further said Stima Sacco has enabled itself to acquire houses affordably at the rate of 9%, helping many people who cannot afford mortgages acquire affordable houses. 

Dr. Hassan lamented that restrictive regulations is one of the key challenges facing the Sacco sector in Kenya, where Saccos have no access to the national payment system and cannot trade in foreign exchange. 

"We have many members in the diaspora and we are unable to trade with them in their foreign currency, we have to do that in Kenya Shillings," he added. 

He, however, said the solution to this is to allow Saccos to be part of the national payment system, and there are already proposals to effect this by creating a Sacco Central where all saccos will be able to access the national payment system.

To stand top of the pyramid, Stima Sacco has embraced innovation and technology, such as mobile, internet and agency banking, to be able to serve its members effectively. 

Stima Sacco has come up with a 2025-2029 strategic plan, which includes, among others, member centricity. This entails uplifting their members through initiatives like financial literacy coaching, and identifying members problems and offering solutions.

"We have a good retention rate of about 99%, but even the 1% who leave, they do leave because technology has become one of the biggest selling points outside there. Any person who is very good as a systems admin, good in ICT, security operation systems, these are hotcakes in the market," Dr. Hassan averred. 

Stima Sacco is constantly looking at ways they can continue retaining existing members and attracting new ones. Further, the Sacco is key on efficiency in its operations, allowing members to access anything they want internally.

The Sacco further assures its members of financial sustainability in terms of good dividends and good products and services.