History and Evolution of EBO SACCO

An interesting and heart-rending story is told of how EBO came to be. In many African villages, burial activities bring together members of a community. They celebrate the life of the demised member, organize burial ceremonies and contribute towards costs. It is very common for villagers to form burial societies to support kin and kith. The Rutooma Village in Kashari County, where EBO was born, was no exception.

In the early 90s prior to the formation of EBO, such a burial society existed in the village of Rutooma, located in the Western part of Uganda. Regular contributions were made by the residents towards a burial fund that supported bereaved families. It worked well. One momentous day, an ailing resident of the village requested the burial society committee for financial assistance towards the costs of her medical treatment. She had suffered for long and was not endowed financially, like most of the Rutooma villagers, to meet such basic needs. The committee was dumbfounded and baffled by the request. This was unprecedented and surely outside the mandate of the fund. As much as they sympathised with Margret Kibandiko they were unable to process to her request. Dejected she was left to deal with her plight.
Sadly, Margaret Kibandiko passed on shortly thereafter, probably due to lack of access to medical treatment. Her death marked a significant turning point in Rutooma Village and ushered the formation of a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA), with a broader mandate than that of a burial society. The pain of focusing on supporting bereaved families at the expense of helping the living, exemplified by Kibandiko’s situation, was too much to bear.
EBO, coined from the acronym “Ebirungi Birug’omutuutu”, which translates to Good things come from sweat, was thus established in 1995 as a Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA)  a peer-to-peer lending association or a group of individuals who save and borrow from the collective savings __ a successor to the VLSA.
In 2002, it was registered under the Co-operative Societies Act, CAP 112 as a co-operative society. An initial technical financial assistance, in the same year, by Uganda Cooperative Alliance supported EBO to institutionalize, substantially.
From its humble beginnings, EBO has grown to well recognized and revered institution in its area of operation. Its brand identity has recognition and wide acceptance that awaits to be exploited.

It is situated in Western Uganda about 30Km from Mbarara Town along Mbaraa – Ibanda Road. The SACCO currently has a membership of over 52,000 individual members, 3400 Farmer groups (with an average membership of 25 households each group) institutions and business organizations with 12 branches in the region. Its area of operation is Mbarara and the neighbouring districts of Ibanda, Kiruhura, Kamwengye, Sheema, Buhweju, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Bushenyi, Kazo, Rwampara and Lyantonde. The SACCO’s main business is receiving member’s savings and advancing credit facilities to them. The major sources of the SACCO’s funding are internally generated funds from equity of 24.3%, 50.7% from savings and 25.0% external borrowings. From the initial starting meager capital of merely fifteen thousand (15,000=)UGX in 2001, the Sacco had been able to accumulate a loan fund of 31,638,218,097 UGX equivalent to 7,030,715 EURO contributing to total capital assets worth 35,476,889,308 UG X by the end of year 2021 .

The SACCO has currently mobilized more than shs 18.4 billion in savings, over shs 4.9 billion share capital, Reserves and retained earnings of Shs 4.1 billion. Its retained profit as at 31st December 2021 amounted to Shs 2,627,486,870=.

This transformation  process into MDI for large Financial Cooperative ushers a new era for EBO following its second transformation into regulated Society by the Bank of Uganda. The main reason for transformation is complying with the new regulations that require all large Societies to be regulated by BOU. The second reason is a strategic one.Long before the regulatory requirement, EBO identified transformation as an important strategy for growth. The preparation of this transformation was preceded by extensive exercises that; Assessed the Operating Environment and conducted an Institutional Diagnostic Assessment.

History and Evolution of EBO SACCO

EBO, coined from the acronym “Ebirungi Birug’omutuutu”, which translates to Good things come from sweat, was established in 1995 as a Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA), a peer-to-peer lending association or a group of individuals who save and borrow from the collective savings.  In 2002, it transitioned and was registered under the Co-operative Societies Act, CAP 112 as a Savings And Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO), marking its first transformation from ROSCA to a SACCO. EBO SACCOs primary activities are to provide its members savings deposits and loan services earning competitive rates of interest and minimising financial risk of such savings.

EBO SACCO has also gone ahead to develop digital channels like EBO mobile Sente where its customers can access their accounts anytime, anywhere using their mobile phones. EBO also has ATM card services in partnership with Interswitch Group where customers of EBO SACCO can access their EBO accounts through ATM machines of other commercial Banks across the country. Also, EBO Customers can access services using the over 10,000 Interswitch agents across the entire EBO operational areas.

The SACCO currently has a membership of over 92,840 individual members,

4,000 Farmer groups (with an average membership of 25 households each group) institutions and business organizations with 13 branches in the region. EBO is currently headquartered in Bwizibwera town, Mbarara district, located in Western Uganda. In addition to Mbarara district coverage, its area of operation includes the neighbouring districts of Ibanda, Kiruhura, Kamwengye, Sheema, Buhweju, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Bushenyi, Kazo, Rwampara and Lyantonde. Other Districts: Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Mubende, Sembabule, Mitooma, Rubirizi, Rakai, Bukomansimbi, Rukiga, Rubanda, Kabale, Kisoro and Rukungiri.

Currently, EBO SACCO has a staff size of more than 230 staff. EBO SACCO serves approximately 92,000clients. This has grown significantly from 2019 when the number of clients stood at 50,000. Net profit after tax for the year of 2022 was 446,084,786 and outstanding loan portfolio of UGX 40 billion. (increase of 10% compared to 2021). Net profit after tax as at end of year 2023 was 2,416,003,457

Loan portfolio outstanding at end of 2023 was UGX.52,782,54,260.

Two employees of EBO SACCO participated in the Future Leadership Program hosted by Rabo Partnerships in September 2023.

Other two staff attended the social finance workshop organised by International Training Centre face to face in Turin, Italy about making finance work for refugees, displaced and host communities. The world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. The number of forcibly displaced populations is growing every year, with prolonged displacements becoming more common. To address this challenge, it is crucial to focus on long term, sustainable solutions that support dignified, inclusive and comprehensive programs for refugees, displaced individuals and host communities. EBO SACCO is now able to provide financial and non-financial services to these communities.

On the green energy products, EBO SACCO has products like Solar, Bio gas and Irrigation which are tailored to environmental protection. EBO is also passionate about women and youth with loans for this particular segment and other loans for People with Disabilities (PWDS) as well as serving Refugees, displaced people and host communities.

Results of the ESG Assessment

EBO  scored a ‘C’ ESG rating in both the 2019 and 2024 assessments, which represents a low-risk profile. EBO achieved an overall score of 82%, this is a 14% increase in comparison to the previous assessment score of 68%. The company recorded:

  • a score of 55% (2024) on the environmental section, compared to 53% (2019).
  • a score of 87% (2024) on the social section, compared to 64% (2019).
  • a score of 100% (2024) on the governance section, compared to 90% (2019).

EBO demonstrated an improved ESG performance in the checklist, particularly in social and governance aspects.