The confab held at the NACCUG conference hall in Kanifing, was facilitated by industry experts and graced by partners, central bank representatives and other high-profile dignitaries. The theme for the event was ‘Financial Cooperative Harnessing Resources to Promote Economic Resilience in Communities.’
At the event, Foday Sanyang, General Manager of NACCUG, underscored the importance of the convergence, saying before the conference, participants had undergone a two-day workshop to discuss pertinent topics in risk management, data management, privacy and security.
“These are issues that credit unions felt important to them and in today’s convergence, we have veteran people who are seasoned facilitators within the industry of the credit union. They would share their knowledge and expertise with members so that they will gain the knowledge and be able to pass it to their respective unions to see the difference in how their credit unions operate.” he stated.
He explained that their goal is to ensure that their members' data is secured, while divulging that the credit union movement currently has 114,000 members countrywide.
“And that’s why we brought in data management as one of the topics. So we want to make sure the message gets across and I hope at the end of the day’s conference, participants will be well capacitised.” he added.
Bintou Njie, chairperson of NACCUG board, shared that the conference will have different expertise as they move to consolidate the gains made in last confab held in 2022.
“I am reliably informed that 115 delegates from 32 credit unions are attending the conference. We thank the board and management of the credit union who generously supported members from smaller credit unions. Your support clearly demonstrates the principle of cooperation among cooperatives.”
Kwang Yung Jung, Regional Coordinator of West Africa German Sparkassenstiftung, also underscored the idea of credit unions as part of their genetic code.
He stated that their cooperation is very crucial in understanding the different needs and challenges of the credit unions.
“So that’s why I consider these management meetings for our cooperation as a very important step in improving our cooperation and for us to understand more in-depth, the needs and requirements of the credit union in The Gambia.” he said
