Individual money collectors, known locally as ‘Susu’ and all enterprises in that sub-sector are to register with the Ghana Cooperative Susu Collectors Association (GCSCA) as a prerequisite for obtaining formal license from the Bank of Ghana.
The directive from the Bank of Ghana also affects susu enterprises that already have certificate of operation, or have lost their operational license. Membership of GCSCA is a means of compelling the micro and individual deposit takers to be governed under operating rules and guidelines for microfinance institutions in the country.
“Both registered and unregistered members are entreated to register with the Association for further licensing by the Central Bank and failure to comply with the bank’s directive will result in a halt of such operations,” the The General Secretary of the Association, Mr Obed Asamany, told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
The directive by the central bank will be in force January 1, next year and it is to ensure adequate supervision and regulation of susu operators in the country by providing an effective regulatory body to monitor and educate them through structured training programmes and sensitisation.
When the directive becomes operational, all unregistered susu collectors will not have the chance to operate since there will be a high rate of monitoring and the public will be sensitised not to do business with them.
Mr Asamany said there would be no room for unregistered susu collectors to operate in the community because the central bank would collaborate with other agencies to monitor the operations of susu operators.
“The microfinance unit of the Central Bank will carry out onsite inspection of license of operators while the Monitory and Supervision department of the Association will perform community checks to ensure no illegal operations are carried out by unregistered susu collectors.”
He said from January 2012 the association in collaboration with the central bank would introduce uniform documentation materials, a uniform pass book and identity cards bearing the seal of the central bank as well as that of the GCSCA.
An Insurance Fund would also be instituted to safeguard savings of the clientele of the registered members.
The GCSCA operates in all the regions and has a registered membership of 1,400.
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