Why you should invest in a cooperative

You can invest in a cooperative society by patronizing the cooperative's products or joining in as a member. [iStockphoto]

Have you ever thought about investing and earning more from your money? There are a number of ways in which you can invest in the Kenyan market today including investing in stocks and shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, in a bank, in a money market fund or in SACCOs and co-operatives.

The International Co-operative Alliance defines a co-operative as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. You can invest in a cooperative society by patronizing the cooperative's products or joining in as a member.

Investing in a cooperative has a number of benefits including:

1. Wealth creation

Investing in a cooperative helps you earn and create wealth over time. Your shares will appreciate in value over time and you can save and re-invest your savings, therefore, getting more value for your money.

This will enable you to earn more from your investments and to use the earnings to either create more wealth or improve your state of living.

2. Guaranteed security of savings and investments

Saving through a cooperative safeguards the security of your savings. This is because a cooperative society will handle the risk involved in investing on your behalf.

A cooperative society will offer products and projects to their investors and the public after calculating the risks involved in the products and either minimising them or mitigating them.

You will therefore be assured of the security of your investment in a cooperative as opposed to haphazardly putting money in high-risk investments that have no security and have higher chances of incurring losses.

3. Discounted and subsidised product prices

You can enjoy lower prices on a cooperative society's products once you join in as a member and get subsidised prices and discounts.

Additionally, you can also enjoy a dividend payment on the shares invested every year once you become a member.

4. Priority on projects and products

Members of cooperative societies always get first priority over non-members on projects.

This not only gives members an opportunity to bid first but also assurance that they will always be notified first as soon as new projects are launched.

Sarah Wahogo

-Sarah Wahogo is the CEO of Safaricom Investment Co-operative Society