Industrialisation , Business, Trade and Tourism Minister Simon Itaye has hailed United Civil Servants Sacco for strong financial performance in the year ended December 31, 2025.
Itaye was speaking in Lilongwe during the sacco’s annual general meeting. During the period, the sacco attained a surplus of about K15.7 billion and declared a K 4.6 billion dividend to be shared by shareholders.
“This is very commendable and my hearty congratulations to the board and management of United Civil Servants Sacco for attaining such an envious profit comparable to some big commercial operations,” Itaye said. The minister said civil servants, like all Malawians, needed to join institutions such as Saccos to enhance financial capacity.
“I would equate a Sacco to an alternative pension for an individual. If one is diligently saving in the Sacco through payroll deductions, they will certainly retire peacefully while being empowered for financial independence,” Itaye said.
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He said his office, in collaboration with the Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (Muscco), would support a Sacco awareness drive among senior government officers, including Cabinet ministers, principal secretaries, directors and the private sector, to encourage membership. “Muscco should arrange meetings in collaboration with his ministry to ensure the campaign is completed before the end of the current financial year,” he said.
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Itaye added that his office would work closely with the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation to address the matter of delayed remittances by ministries, departments and agencies when civil servants are deducted from their salaries. “I know this has been a long issue but we will work to find a long-term solution to this matter. In addition, the ministry will try to address the matter of high cost of third-party deductions Saccos are currently being charged,” Itaye said.
United Civil Servants Sacco Chief Executive Officer Fransis Waliwa attributed the performance to significant membership growth, with more than 15,000 members mobilised last year. “You know this is a game of numbers. When we have mobilised more members, it means we will have more savings and more people to give loans to. That’s why we have grown our loan book by 40 percent from around K32 billion to K48 billion,” he said.
The Sacco has at least 92,000 members and is targeting over 500,000 going forward, with growth expected to be driven by digital channels targeting civil servants and the diaspora. Its asset base expanded to about K72 billion from around K40 billion in the period, Waliwa said.
