Staff training critical for business growth—Muscco

Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (Muscco) has said managers of cooperatives have to undergo continuous professional training to serve their members better and also grow their organisations.

Muscco chief executive officer Sylvester Kadzola said this in Mulanje last week during a training workshop for its managers in the Southern Region.

“In a country where cooperatives are growing, we believe levels of management need to be improving to prepare managers for growth of cooperatives,” he said.

Kadzola said currently, technology advancements are taking centre stage and financial needs of members [of cooperatives] have also improved.

“Our members are now more sophisticated than before and need fast and modern services and products. Unless managers are prepared for that, they will not be able to meet those needs as consumers of services require timely but also modern services,” he said.

Kadzola said previously, savings and credit cooperatives (Saccos) were perceived as organisations for low-income earners but nowadays top managers too are joining Saccos.

One of the participants, Joseph Mayenda, who is an official of Sucoma Sacco, described the workshop as an opportunity to sharpen skills and enhance expertise to effectively execute their duties.

“Managing a cooperative is a task that any manager would not undertake easily. Cooperatives are a different business altogether.

“Most of our members elected into the board lack business management skills; hence, the need for us to manage all this to have a working and vibrant cooperative,” he said. n