Camccul

Close the Gap cooperates with the Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL) and the Belgian Raiffeisen Foundation (BRS) in order to improve CAMCCUL’s information management.

In 2005, KBC decided to replace 6000 computers and donate them to Close the Gap. They requested that these donations would preferably be used to support micro financing projects since millions of people world-wide still have no access to financial services such as saving, lending or insurance. Therefore Close the Gap started a partnership with the Belgian Raiffeisen Foundation (BRS) for the identification of sustainable micro financing projects. Since BRS forms the international social arm of Cera (Cera is one of KBC’s shareholders), this donation fits perfectly in KBC’s social structure.

Cera emphasizes its social mission with the motto ‘co-operative patronage with added social value’. This is concretized by providing financial support to hundreds of projects in Belgium and, to a limited extent, also abroad. The projects selected to receive such assistance are social projects that satisfy real needs and achieve sustainable results. In addition, they must reflect Cera’s cooperative values: collaboration, solidarity, participation and respect for individuals.*

The cooperation with the Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL) peers with the purpose of BRS and KBC. CamCCUL is the umbrella organization of cooperative credit unions in Cameroon. It has a long-standing experience in promoting viable and sustainable credit unions capable of attracting and channeling indigenous financial resources in the form of productive loans within the rural, sub-urban and urban areas of Cameroon aimed at alleviating poverty.

Their mission is to develop, institute, assist and promote an efficient gender sensitive cooperative credit union network. This by providing sustained quality products and services to affiliates, encouraging equitable, apolitical and full participation from its various stakeholders. CamCCUL promotes social responsibility, staff efficacy and membership commitment through education and training, maintaining close relationships with other related institutions and Governments and assisting their affiliates to develop and sustain relationships with NGO’s and institutions involved in development.

Today, CamCCUL has 191 affiliated cooperative credit unions spread over the 10 provinces of Cameroon, but many of these unions are facing the problem of information management which hinders their growth and development. Most of them are still carrying out operations manually with all the risks of errors in an era where computers in management should be the order of the day. Less than 30% of the unions are computerized, which causes a load of technical consequences, such as overstaffing for a low level of operations, errors and frauds due to the manual handling of operations, difficulties in gathering and maintaining statistics, etc. The most significant reason for this poor computerization is the cost of computers and software which the credit unions cannot afford. Meanwhile computers will help the unions to produce good and reliable information and monitor prudential norms and ratios.

It is here that Close the Gap, thanks to KBC and BRS, can offer these people and communities the support to bring about a true change, by providing them with computers at cost-efficient prices.

Close the Gap provided CAMCCUL with 500 Desktops, 4500 Laptops and 100 HP LaserJet Printers.