From colonial-era farmer cooperatives to a trillion-shilling financial sector, Kenya's SACCO movement has spent a century balancing rapid growth with recurring governance challenges.
Kenya's 2026 SACCO dividend season has produced returns ranging from single digits to 21%, highlighting both the appeal and the uneven performance of the cooperative sector.
SACCO executives are prioritizing fintech partnerships for 2026 as digital transactions surge, instant payment integrations spread, and healthcare lending emerges as the fastest-growing loan category.
Kenya's SACCO sector has crossed 1 trillion shillings in assets for the first time even as regulators press thousands of smaller cooperatives to comply with reporting rules or face deregistration.
