BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Catholic Education Secretariat Co-operative Credit Union (CESCCU) was created by the teaching force of the Roman Catholic Mission, The Gambia. The vision of the founding members was to create an empowered teaching force in the Roman Catholic teaching service. The Primary objective is to instill a saving culture into the membership, disburse loans to implement key projects in the members’ lives, thereby create viable and self-actualized teachers in the service of God and the country.
The Credit Union has its head office at Kanifing between St. Therese’s Lower Basic and the Upper Basic schools. The Credit Union started in June 1997 with a membership of 156 and a corresponding savings balance of GMD15,145.00 (Fifteen Thousand, One Hundred and Forty-Five Dalasis only). By the year 2020, CESCCU has open the bond to enable them serve a wider community.
The Credit Union has since seen enormous growth on all sectors including membership and savings portfolios. As at December 2021, the membership grows to about 4000 and the asset book balance was over GMD77 million Dalasis. There are branches at Brikama and Farafenni in addition to the head office. CESCCU utilizes the Share Branching networking to serve its members at Basse, Bwiam and other areas where their members may be.
CESCCU is banking with Standard Chartered Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (Gambia) Ltd, Reliance Financial Services, Central Finance Facility (NACCUG), and Ecobank Gambia Ltd.
CESCCU has four committees: the Board of Directors, Supervisory Committee, Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, and the Election Commission. The Board hosts an Annual General Meeting at various communities as per their member base. The Credit Union Manager is also a member of the Association of Credit Union Managers in The Gambia (ACUMAG). The CU is affiliated to the Apex body, National Association of Co-operative Credit Union of the Gambia (NACCUG). We hire the services of external auditors who audits our accounts at the end of every financial year.
CESCCU offers a range of products and services to her members mainly between savings, loans and capacity building. We have policies to guide all operations, products and services to guarantee viability, accountability, ethics, and above all add value to its members.