The University of Ghana Co-operative Credit Union Limited has declared a net surplus of over GH¢ 11 million for the 2020/2021 financial year.

This represents a growth of 21 per cent increase from the previous year’s net surplus of GH¢ 9.1million.

The union’s total asset also grew from GH¢ 151,020, 481.94 last year to GH¢177,923,759 in the year under review, representing 17.81 per cent rise.

The Chairperson of the union, Dr Samuel Nana Yaw Simpson, who disclosed this at the union’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Accra, said despite the pandemic, the union was poised to maintain its place as the union with the largest asset size in the country.

Dr Simpson said the board would pursue various strategies and interventions targeted at boosting the development of the union.

Key among these interventions include the passage of new laws to govern the operations of the union, utilisation of the World Bank Sponsored

Core Banking Software credit unions.

“We will continue to work hard to build a resilient and sustainable credit union on the four pillars: member service excellence, operational excellence, business growth and innovation, and good governance,” he said.

Strategic plan

The union also launched a five-year strategic plan at the AGM which took place via zoom.

Dr Simpson explained that the new direction had become imperative to respond to the fast-changing business environment and the union’s desire to position its members at the centre of its operations.

The strategic framework, if achieved he said would certainly provide a strong foundation for the future of the union.

Digitalisation

The Manager of the Credit Union, Mr Francis Fiayiya, noted that the advent of COVID-19 had compelled financial service providers to offer secure, paperless and robust transactional platform that gave members round-the-clock access to the union’s services.

Consequently, the union, he said had enhanced its existing platforms to accommodate a wider variety of member services.

Restructuring

For his part, the Registrar of the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA), Mr Charles Yaw Offe, underscored the need for the credit union to restructure their operations to support its members into the post COVID-19 era.

“Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become the order of the day whether we like it or not, so we have to adopt it,” he added.