Savings and credit societies (Saccos) in Kenya continue to thrive despite the prevailing economic hardships. Broadly, there are two categories of Saccos: deposit taking (DT) Saccos and non-withdrawable deposit taking (NWDT) Saccos. According to the 2022 report released recently by Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA), there are 176 DT Saccos and 183 NWDT Saccos.
The key difference between the two is that DT Saccos provide withdrawable savings account services through front office savings activities (FOSA), while non-deposit taking SACCOs don’t allow members to withdraw deposits.
Tier one Saccos
Of the 176, 42 are tier one Saccos. SASRA classifies a Sacco exceeding Kshs. 5 billion in assets as a tier one Sacco. As of 2022 financial year, Saccos received deposits totaling Kshs. 620 billion and gave out Kshs. 680 billion as loans to members. Despite gross loans outgrowing faster than deposits, Saccos generally continue to increase their asset base with a few managing to effectively close the gap between loans issued against their deposits.
For example, total assets of Stima DT Sacco grew from Kshs. 46 billion in 2021 to Kshs. 53 billion by the end of 2022. On a positive note, some Saccos like Mentor Sacco and NewFortis accumulated deposits in excess of what they loaned out rendering them financially stable. Last year, Mentor Sacco received Ksh. 8.91 billion in deposits and loaned out Kshs.8.68 billion while its asset base rose from Kshs. 10.41 billion to Kshs. 11.77 billion. Similarly, NewFortis Sacco held Kshs. 7.49 billion worth of deposits and gave out Kshs. 6.76 billion worth of loans last year. Its total assets increased from Kshs. 9.21 billion in 2021 to Kshs 10.19 billion by the end of 2022.
Here is a list of the top 20 tier one Saccos in Kenya ranked according to their asset base by the end of the 2022 financial year:
All figures are in Kshs. billions.
SACCO | TOTAL ASSETS | TOTAL DEPOSITS | GROSS LOANS | |
1 | MWALIMU NATIONAL | 64.06 | 47.29 | 43.84 |
2 | STIMA DT | 53.78 | 39.43 | 45.07 |
3 | KENYA NATIONAL POLICE DT | 48.98 | 28.89 | 41.58 |
4 | HARAMBEE | 37.01 | 23.70 | 27.67 |
5 | AFYA | 20.94 | 15.63 | 13.21 |
6 | UNAITAS | 20.40 | 11.02 | 16.36 |
7 | IMARISHA | 19.82 | 14.08 | 15.73 |
8 | TOWER | 19.57 | 14.50 | 15.23 |
9 | UNITED NATIONS DT | 16.70 | 12.56 | 10.27 |
10 | UKULIMA | 14.66 | 10.25 | 12.09 |
SACCO | TOTAL ASSETS | TOTAL DEPOSITS | GROSS LOANS | |
11 | INVEST AND GROW (IG | 12.96 | 7.04 | 9.52 |
12 | GUSII MWALIMU | 12.85 | 9.20 | 11.26 |
13 | HAZINA | 12.76 | 9.66 | 8.96 |
14 | BANDARI | 12.01 | 7.54 | 7.93 |
15 | MENTOR | 11.77 | 8.91 | 8.68 |
16 | IMARIKA | 11.67 | 7.48 | 10.15 |
17 | NEWFORTIS | 10.19 | 7.49 | 6.76 |
18 | SAFARICOM | 10.05 | 7.76 | 7.10 |
19 | METROPOLITAN NATIONAL* | 10.02 | 7.39 | 18.09 |
20 | BORESHA DT | 9.90 | 6.89 | 8.38 |
The financial statistics of the Sacco with * were based on returns as it did not have any audited financial statements as at the time of preparing the report by SASRA.