The Dominican Republic occupies half a Caribbean island 48,442square kilometers, and is home to 10 million people. Everyone in the Dominican knows everyone else and word of mouth goes a long way. For 61 years people have been talking about Cooperativa San José, Inc. They have also been entrusting their money to the credit union. […]
Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples San José, Inc.
Cooperativa San José, Inc. has 61 years of uninterrupted service and over 80,000 members. The cooperative offers its members efficient and competitive financial services. We have a high level of social responsibility, demonstrated also through the San José Foundation for Development. We offer support in the health and social services sectors as well as providing […]
Giving women in the construction industry a helping hand
The construction industry is traditionally male-dominated: in fact in the United Kingdom, for example, women have just 9 percent of construction jobs, and most of those are in design, management or administration rather than actual operations. In India, however, 51 percent of construction workers are women, of which 98 percent are unskilled. The Self Employed […]
Making farm credit work, from the USA to Armenia
Established in 1916, the Farm Credit System in the United States is a federally chartered network of cooperatives and other organizations, which lends money to agricultural producers, rural homeowners and farm-related businesses and cooperatives. Now, a financial cooperative has been started in Armenia based on the same concept, heavily influenced (and supported) by the system […]
The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group is the UKs largest mutual business, owned not by private shareholders but by over six million consumers. It is the UKs fifth biggest food retailer, the leading convenience store operator and a major financial services provider, operating The Co-operative Bank, Britannia and The Co-operative Insurance. Among its other businesses are the number […]
Providing security through SACCOs in Ethiopia
How does one address the perennial pecuniary insecurity of workers, which often places them at the mercy (and greed) of loan sharks? What options do workers have other than pleading for loans and advances from their employers whenever they are faced with financial problems? What can be done to provide some kind of social protection […]
Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions
The confederation of Ethiopia trade union (CETU), with a total member ship of 320,000 (134,251 female and 185,749 male), is an umbrella organization of about 520 grassroots trade unions affiliated to nine national industrial federations. Almost all member unions have saving and credit cooperatives and some have more advanced workers cooperatives engaged in different investment […]
Celebration and promotion for Kenya’s co-operative movement
CAK together with the other stakeholders launched the 2012 International Year of Co-operatives on the 29th November, 2011 where His Excellency, Hon. Mwai Kibaki, E.G.H., M. P, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kenya was the Chief Guest of Honor. The event was marked with exhibitions, entertainment and key speeches […]
Co-operative Alliance of Kenya (CAK)
The Co-operative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) is the National Apex Organization for Kenyas Co-operative Movement. Its membership is drawn from over 14,000 registered Co-operatives that include the National Co-operative Organizations (NACOs), Co-operative Unions and Primary Co-operative Societies. The individual members to these Co-operatives are over 10 million with mobilized savings of over Kshs. 250 billion […]
Controlling the future without arms
To survive, at least temporarily, in the Congo between 1996 and 2003, both adults and children took up arms. Many who did not do so voluntarily were forced to participate. War became their means of subsistence. Those who did not fight suffered starvation and displacement. When war ended in 2003, the job of re-establishing basic […]