The Contribution of Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOS) on the Improvement of Members' Socio Economic Development in Rwanda. Opportunities and Challenges

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2020 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: Rite, University of Koblenz-Landau (KOBLENZ-LANDAU UNIVERSITY , School of social sciences, department of Economics), course: PhD Dissertation, language: English, abstract: This study examines the contribution of saving and credit cooperatives (SACCOS) on the improvement of members' socio economic development in Rwanda. The appearance of saving and credit cooperatives or credit unions has been known as remedy for social ills rooted in poverty because of its efficiency in loans or credits dispensation, social equality for enhancement and reduction of poverty among low income earners. Therefore, millions and millions of poor people and non-bankable in developing countries (or third world countries) have been provided access to formal financial services through saving and credit cooperatives' programs. The targeted population concerned by the study was 1,940 members of USACCO from which a sample of 92 respondents was purposely selected. The study has adopted a combination of correlation and descriptive research design. It has employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study used both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected using questionnaire and interview and, while secondary data was collected using documentations techniques whereby, Manual of procedures and Credit policies of USACCO and financial reports have been consulted. The analysis of data was done using SPSS version 21.