Rwanda: Cooperatives celebrate wider opportunities for safer and productive businesses

Elias Hakizimana Jul 7, 2019Jul 7, 2019 0 Comments

By Elias Hakizimana.

Various cooperative managers in Rwanda are celebrating achievements and income made from their businesses, thanks to the good policy governing operation of cooperatives established by the government through its Rwanda cooperative Agency (RCA).

With a smile, Egide Rugwizangoga, the president of COOPRORIZ Ntende cooperative that grows rice in Gatsibo District after receiving a trophy of best cooperative in the country explained how their cooperative managed to work harder and build a two-stars hotel.

Rugwizangoga was speaking to the media after winning as ‘best cooperative’ during the international day of cooperatives that took place in Gatsibo District on July 6, 2019.

The theme of the Day was “Cooperative, Umurimo Unoze, or Cooperative, quality work”

Rugwizangoga said that their cooperative started with 550 members, growing rice on 70 hectares and they are now 3,761 members growing rice on 600 hectares.

Egide Rugwizangoga, the president of COOPRORIZ Ntende cooperative receiving a Trophy by Prof. Jean Bosco Harelimana, Director General RCA (center) with Eastern Province’s governor Fred Mufurukye (1st, Left)

Besides a hotel, COOPRORIZ Ntende has poultry project to help members fight malnutrition and expand family income.

During the International day of cooperatives, they officially launched a poultry house that will host 15,000 chickens.

The-one-day old chickens will be given to members at 45 days old as loan to be paid back when they start producing eggs at the first stage.

Fazil Murangira, Managing Director of ‘Cooperative des Chaufeurs pour le Transport des Marchandises en Ville de Kigali’ (COCTRAMAVK) working in Kigali and outside Rwanda also commented on cooperative development.

**Fazil Murangira, Managing Director of COCTRAMAVK receiving his trophy./Elias Hakizimana**

He said that they started as 88 members with Rwf 10,000 capital per member, meaning a total of Rwf 880,000.

“A lot have been achieved, from Rwf 880,000, we have reached over Rwf 300 billion of capital,” Murangira said.

He said that 80 percent of drivers in the cooperative are now entrepreneurs.

“Our project is expanded to the Northern Congo and we give quality services to our clients in Goods transportation. We plan to build standard modern quality parking and warehouses in Kigali,” Murangira added.

**COCTRAMAVK trucks are servicing in and outside the country.**

Prof. Jean Bosco Harelimana, Director General of the Rwanda Cooperatives Agency (RCA) said that many of cooperatives reached their goals because of good management and some who mismanaged their cooperatives are in courts to be judged and return the money they embezzled.

He said that in SACCO, about Rwf 2,8billion of Rwf 5 billion defaulted loans were retuned.

“In other cooperatives, we recovered Rwf 720 million of Rwf 1,9 billion embezzled; and we are following on criminals’ cases in courts to return the remaining amount. We are helping cooperatives to vote for good representatives and train them on good management and ICT use to ensure better management of members’ money,” Harelimana said.

According to RCA recent survey, 94 percent of cooperatives are well managed, 3% are in the middle while 3 percent are mismanaged.

He said they are increasing efforts to ensure a hundred percent of good management.

He called for transparency in managing community properties and money.

To revamp the sector, Harelimana said that the process to get operating authorization for cooperative moved from 30 days to 5 days and it is expected to be given in only 6 hours.

According to the Eastern Province’s governor Fred Mufurukye, the eastern region has over 2,000 cooperatives with vibrant activities that are promising a life transformation for members.

**Fred Mufurukye in the middle with the mayor of Gatsibo District (1st R-L) and Prof Jean Bosco Harelimana, RCA DG on his left, visiting some achievements of cooperatives.**

“We have cooperatives in agriculture, livestock, transport and in fishing and they have employed many citizens. We have microfinance institutions and SACCOs. Our SACCOs have over Rwf 16 billion savings and have spent over Rwf 10 billion to members’ salaries,” he said.

One of the challenges facing cooperatives working in food processing is packaging materials that are still expensive, governor Mufurukye said adding that they are seeking a solution for this problem in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

There are 9,706 cooperatives countrywide with over 5 million members and Rwf 67 billion of savings; and Rwf 47 million capital.