Leveraging growth of savings and credit cooperatives through innovative practices-cases from Uganda

Purpose This paper explores how the growth of selected Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in an African setting was nurtured through innovative practices that enabled them to fulfill their roles. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies an exploratory qualitative approach using face-to-face interviews and observation to obtain in-depth primary data. Data were then examined using thematic and matrix analyses to understand the key resources, innovative practices and growth strides in the cases studied. Findings The SACCOs undertook a variety of innovative practices based on resources, which included: creating teams, focusing on community needs, involving top management and all SACCOS’ members and having visionary entrepreneurial leaders. This led to an increase in outreach and savings. Originality/value Whereas the concept of innovative practices has been widely studied, there is scanty literature on how such practices within SACCOs are developed based on the resources of SACCOs in Africa. This paper further provides new insights based on empirical data from SACCOs that applied innovative practices and were able to grow.