A street market in Nairobi, Kenya. Source: AdobeStock
CUNA Mutual Group in Madison, Wis., donated $125,000 to The ACCOSCA Academy, a project of the African Confederation of Cooperative Savings & Credit Associations (ACCOSCA), according to an announcement from Climb Africa, a fundraising campaign benefitting the in-the-works academy.
ACCOSCA is developing The ACCOSCA Academy to provide education and training for employees of SACCOs – savings and credit cooperatives in Africa that are members of ACCOSCA. According to Climb Africa's website, the academy's organizers are working to raise $1.2 million to outfit their offices and build a state-of-the-art Training Academy facility, and have set a goal of acquiring $680,000 of that amount from American credit unions and their partners.
CUNA Mutual Group's donation brought the total amount contributed by American credit unions and their partners to the project so far from $182,000 to $307,000, according to donation amounts listed on Climb Africa's website. Other donors included the African American Credit Union Coalition ($12,000); the $3.4 billion, Raleigh, N.C.-based Local Government Federal Credit Union ($50,000); the $4.7 billion, Raleigh-based Coastal Federal Credit Union ($50,000); the $27.8 billion, Tustin, Calif.-based SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union ($50,000) and the $4.9 billion, Cottage Grove, Wis.-based Summit Credit Union ($20,000).
The ACCOSCA Academy will also provide opportunities for SACCO institutions' staff, management, board members, regulators and community members, which represent more than 750 million consumers in 27 African countries who are typically not served by the traditional financial sector, to meet the socio-economic needs of African villages and cities, neighborhoods and nations, Climb Africa said.
"At CUNA Mutual Group, we believe a brighter financial future should be accessible to everyone," CUNA Mutual Group President/CEO Robert N. Trunzo stated. "We're proud to support the ACCOSCA Academy in its efforts to address the socio-economic needs of the African people. We're part of a connected worldwide community, and in working in collaboration with one another, we can achieve financial well-being for all."
ACCOSCA Executive Director George Ombado added, "The commitment of our African financial services community in addition to the commitment from our U.S. supporters is quickly making our vision of The ACCOSCA Academy a reality. This collaboration of cooperatives is soon going to strengthen African communities across our country. Thank you to CUNA Mutual Group for the support of our vision, and commitment to improving communities across the globe with support of cooperative financial institutions."
Established in 1968, ACCOSCA is the Pan-African confederation of national associations of savings and credit cooperatives societies. As part of Climb Africa's fundraising campaign, a climbing event at Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania will be held this fall, as well as a virtual version of the climb. Credit unions interested in participating in the climb or donating to support The ACCOSCA Academy can learn more here.
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
