Dr Deodat E. Adenutsi, Executive Director, VEReF Development Network, said without financial management individuals risk debt and instability, while businesses may face cash flow crises or even bankruptcy. 

He said financial management was a crucial practice for both individuals and organizations, providing a structured approach to handling money that ensured financial stability. 

Dr Adenutsi, speaking on the theme: “Good Governance, Financial Prudence and Member Protection in Cooperative Management,” noted that prudent financial management enabled the achievement of goals, and facilitated long-term prosperity. The Executive Director charged the board members to discharge their duties with high level of professionalism to enhance the growth of the Society and expand its membership to drive community development.

Mr Samuel Anikpi, a facilitator at the programme said the success of the Society would be measured not only by the strength of its balance sheet, but by the dignity, resilience, and prosperity it helped create for its members and communities. He asked the board members to work with diligence, knowing that they are not merely directors of a financial entity; but “fiduciaries of a social enterprise bound by cooperative values, democratic member control, equity and inclusion, transparency, education, and concern for community.” 

Mr Anikpi asked them to governance with integrity as they owe duties of loyalty, care, and obedience to the Society’s constitution and governing laws. The training was supported by STAR-Ghana Foundation, Comic Relief, FCDO and WASCI, and it covered topics including basic saving and lending principles, record-keeping and transparent accounting, budgeting and financial goal setting, democratic group management and governance, and management of financial risks.