By Marynn Zita

We are all in chamas and we know just how difficult it can be to run one. What with dealing with people from different backgrounds, different personalities all sharing a common goal of attaining financial independence. Do you want to learn how to run your chama is a professional manner? Then don’t miss the Unaitas chama conferences held regularly. With a bold aim to professionalize investment groups commonly referred to as ‘chamas’ in Kenya, Unaitas Sacco holds regular chama conferences drawing chama groups from various parts of the country. The main aim of these conferences is to educate chama members.

Unaitas Sacco

Tony Mwangi, CEO Unaitas Sacco, has the following to say about chamas, “The impact that they have in a community is tremendous because we are talking about transforming people’s lives, financial growth and people coming together and being able to create wealth.”

According to Tony, investment groups make it possible and easier for the members to quickly invest in big deals which would not have been possible to realize individually. This is the main focus of the conferences, to provide chamas professional support in indentifying and exploiting emerging economic trends and opportunities.
In these conferences, your chama can gain information and valuable insights on coming up with sound investment models as a prudent way to maximize returns for your members. With some chama groups making multi-million shilling investments, this revolution can no longer be considered to be small and informal organizations as commonly perceived today.

Founder and chairman of the Origins Investment Group Advisors, Tony Wainaina, shares with and trains the participants on the formation, management and investment planning of investment groups. He draws from a wealth of expertise and experience in private equity, venture capital and corporate finance.

The growth of investment groups has seen the formation of The Kenya Association of Investment Groups (KAIG) which is the umbrella association of all investment groups in Kenya and in the Kenyan Diasporas. During the re-brand launch of KAIG recently, Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat Director General Mugo Kibati said such investment groups need to make a more aggressive push towards investing in Vision 2030.
Financial analysts estimate that 3 in 5 Kenyans pool their monies and resources in some ways which has led financial institutions to take notice and get involved in creating products that specifically target chama groups, with favourable interest rates and sizeable loan potential. Chief among these is Unaitas Sacco that offers the Maono Group Loan.

With the many investment groups in the country, there is need for education and guidance on how to make the various investment groups more visionary. Dr. Wale Akinyemi the CEO of Power Talks and a leader in corporate and personal development consultancy, shares invaluable insights and tools needed to give the investment groups an edge.

A proper foundation and good corporate governance is pre-requisite to successful investment. As the chamas grow their investment portfolios, prudent and ethical management practices become imperative to their success and survival. With this in place, chamas can yield their members excess returns on their investment funds year after year, while providing them with invaluable educational experience that will last a lifetime.

Get your chama members to attend the next Unaitas chama conference and come away with information that will help you transform your chama for the better. Registration is usually one thousand shillings per person and it is usually a one-day event.
Traditionally, chamas were revolving fund groups that merely saved money for social welfare purposes. However, over time, they have transformed into powerful investment vehicles aimed at getting more returns for savings.

Unaitas is an indigenous sacco – one of the largest in Kenya with humble beginnings in Muranga. It started as a small tea farmer co-operative and over time grew tremendously to become a mammoth Sacco worth billions of shillings. Today it has spread its tentacles countrywide and is set to change Kenyans lives for the better. One of the things they are doing is to help Chamas do things in a professional manner and move away from ‘jua kali’ practices. Any chama group can attend this educative conference, all you need is to book at the offices of Unaitas to attend. Their head office is in Muranga town; however they also have branches all over the country and in the city centre near Bus station close to Jack and Jill supermarket. They can also be found in Kasarani, Kawangware and On’gata Rongai as well.

Categorised in: chama constitution, chama management, Chamas, Chamasoft

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