Background

FINCOOP was placed under administration by the Registrar of Co-operatives on February 3, 2012 due to large loan losses.  Day to day management and stabilization of the SACCO has been delegated to MUSCCO, Malawi's central co-operative association. Since January 2012, CCA has been supporting MUSCCO and FINCOOP through the provision of Technical Assistance. A Stabilization Advisor was sent from April-June 2012, and a Credit Risk Advisor followed from September-November 2012.  

 

Before being placed under supervision, FINCOOP represented approximately one third of the SACCO system's membership and assets, with 41,000 members and MK691,000,000 in assets ($2,100,00 CAD). At this time there were 6 branches and 56 staff. Currently, FINCOOP has 22,000 members, with 93,000,000 ($286,000 CAD) in assets, 3 branches and 17 members of staff. The major challenges that FINCOOP still faces are loans recovery, a shrinking loan book and low liquidity.

 

The goal of the mission is to restore FINCOOP to financial stability and rebuild the SACCO's equity position to increase member confidence in the institution.

 

Responsibilities 

In close collaboration with senior management of MUSCCO the FINCOOP General Manager will carry out the day-to-day management of FINCOOP with special attention to:

 

-  Strengthening the balance sheet by facilitating loans collection and improving portfolio quality

-  Identifying and securing additional sources of financing to grow the loan book which holds key to resuscitating the SACCO

- Improving loans collections procedures

- Improving ROA performance

- Improving liquidity / deposit mobilization

- Improving operational policies and procedures

- Increasing operational efficiency

- Mentoring staff

 

The FINCOOP General Manager will also work with MUSCCO to liaise with the Malawi Reserve Bank and the Department of Co-operatives, and to negotiate refinancing terms with creditor banks.

 

Deliverables

Assignment deliverables will be discussed and agreed upon by MUSCCO, CCA and the successful candidate. They will include:

 

- Regular reporting to MUSCCO Management and Board

- Monthly reporting to CCA

- Closing report

 

This is a challenging position. The ideal candidate will have:

 

- Credit union turnaround experience

- At least 10 years as a general manager of a credit union

- A good knowledge of member marketing, preferably consumer and agricultural loans

- A strong background in credit risk and collections

- Direct lending experience

- A willingness to roll up your sleeves and get directly involved to achieve results

- A collaborative attitude and be a real team player

- Experience working in other countries or familiarity with credit unions overseas is an asset

 

Canadian Co-operative Association

The Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) is a national association for co-operatives in Canada, representing more than ten million co-operative and credit union members from over 2,000 organizations.  Individual co-op members are represented by CCA either directly through their co-operative, through their provincial co-op associations or credit union central, or through sectoral organizations. CCA provides leadership to promote, develop, and unite co-operatives and credit unions for the benefit of people in Canada and around the world.    

  

 MUSCCO

Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (MUSCCO) is a national democratically controlled member-based organization of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) operating throughout Malawi.  MUSCCO was established 15th September, 1980 with a mandate to promote, service and support SACCOs affiliated to it in Malawi. Currently, MUSCCO has 45 SACCOs affiliated to it with a membership of close to 100,000.   CCA and MUSCCO have been working together since 2002.

 

Core funding for this program is provided by the Partnership Program of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and CCA's charitable funding partner, the Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada (CDF).