The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

FOUR new co-operatives are expected to be formed before the end of 2014, the director of co-operatives development yesterday saying that credit unions are aiming to build on their 41,000 membership count via a more sustained promotional campaign.

“We anticipate that we will form four new co-operatives by the end of the year, and we are in discussions with a number of community-based organisations who have expressed interest in forming cooperatives,” said Nathaniel Adderley during a press conference yesterday.

Mr Adderley added that preliminary discussions were being held with Junkanoo groups, the fly fishing industry and churches.

The co-operative movement in the Bahamas is now in its 40th year. The Department of Cooperatives is in the process of shifting its focus towards strengthening the producer/service cooperatives as a means of empowering Bahamians to create wealth.

Mr Adderley said the membership penetration rate of credit unions, or financial co-operatives, was still too low, with more sustained effort to be placed on increasing visibility and public awareness of credit unions.

“We have to increase the visibility and public awareness of what we do. We need to have a more specialised approach to the services that we provide,” said Mr Adderley.

“We think the penetration is very low. I think we could do a bit more to promote and engage people in the sector. We’re trying to put a target on how many members we want to have come in this year. There has to be a sustained effort to promote and really express the benefits of becoming a credit union member.”

Mr Adderley added that the primary difference between credit unions and commercial banking institutions was ownership, noting that the former have historically provided members the opportunity to pay for education, buy homes and improve their overall standard of living.

“They are owned and operated by the people who use the services. All of the profits, if you could call it that, goes back to the people. They are local, indigenous organisations,” said Mr Adderley.

He added that credit unions, like other financial institutions, have been challenged with delinquencies, though he acknowledged that they have faired reasonably well in that regard.

“We are not lax with our lending, but most credit unions know their members and you cannot allow any one member to destroy what you do,” said Mr Adderley.