Examination of Witnesses (Questions 400
- 402)
TUESDAY 16 MAY 2006
MR STIRLING
SMITH
Q400 Ann McKechin: There could be
EU regulations?
Mr Smith: Yes.
Q401 Mr Singh: How useful do you
think credit unions are in reaching those people beyond the reach
of the banks and micro-finance institutions? Is a credit union
an institution on which DFID should focus more?
Mr Smith: I was in Kenya last
year and I met a lot of very small credit union groups, individuals
who could not open a bank account because the minimum size of
a bank account was, I think, 5,000 shillings. Groups collectively
were able to save money and form savers' credit co-operatives.
The Kenyan central organisation of credit unions was opening small
village banks which enabled these groups to open collective accounts
and they had a customer relations officer supporting those groups,
helping them to make the right kind of decisions. They were doing
very small things, particularly setting up places to wash vegetables
in the vegetable market so that the vegetables looked better.
In Gikomba, one of the biggest markets in east Africa, in Nairobi,
the credit union group there had put the money together and opened
a toilet. If you are a woman trader trying to run your stall for
the day, having a toilet to go to is pretty important so they
charged two shillings to use the toilet. I went and used it, although
not the ladies' obviously. In a rural area in Uganda, the people
do not have electricity yet so people run their fridges, fans
and radios on big batteries. How do you recharge your battery?
One guy's living was recharging batteries. He was able to do it
by a loan from the credit unions. They are enormously important
for providing small amounts of $50 or $100 to help micro-enterprise
that you can not only support yourself; often you can employ two
or three other people as well. In this particular village it prevented
people having to go 10 miles to the nearest clinic because there
was a nurse and she provided medicines and basic advice. We would
like to see much more support for those small, co-operative credit
unions.
Q402 Joan Ruddock: Is there anything
more you would like to say to us?
Mr Smith: I think we have covered
all the points that you might be interested in. Thank you.
Joan Ruddock: Thank you very much indeed.
| 
