Out of an estimated 1,500 Susu collectors operating in the country, with a client base of over 2 million, only 472 of them (representing 31 percent) are formally licenced under the self-regulation scheme, making t activities of the rest illegal.

This was revealed by the Ghana Cooperative Susu Collectors Association (GCSCA) at a forum held in Accra to raise awareness of the situation, which they refer to as a threat to national security.

Speaking at the forum, Obed Asomaning -- Executive secretary of GCSCA, the umbrella-body mandated by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to register and supervise activities of the Susu Collectors -- said constant efforts have been made by the Association to register most of them (the Susu collectors) so they can operate with a legal licence, but their efforts have been met with a lot resistance from the operators.

The Association is therefore calling on the central bank to act swiftly in order to prevent a situation that is currently happening in the microfinance sector, where some microfinance institutions have defaulted in paying deposits due their clients.

“We want the Bank of Ghana to apply the necessary sanctions to the unyielding operators who do not want to licence their operations; and this poses another serious threat to the security of the country, in that there are a lot of people who save their money with these cooperatives and stand to lose everything in case there is a default in payment,” he said.

The Association further indicates that a survey conducted using 160 Susu collectors and 210 clients revealed that 44 percent of clients sampled are not aware of the regulatory mandate given to the GCSCA by the central bank; while another 32 percent do not consider the relevance of regulating the sector.

The survey however further shows that 77 percent of the clients prefer doing business with registered Susu collectors since they consider them safer than non-registered members.

This, Edmund Benjamin-Addy -- Head, Monitoring and Supervision -- said calls for placing emphasis on the need to embark on an intensive education for the general public to sensitise them about the dangers of dealing with such unregistered members; and to also educate the unregistered operators as to the importance of legalising their business.

“This Advocacy action is to attain a comprehensive self-regulated Susu business environment in the country to ensure proper sanity in the operation of Susu and security of clients’ savings, which will result in a thriving susu business in Ghana as a whole,” he said.

The Association further recommends that a regional taskforce be formed the Bank of Ghana to assist the monitoring unit of GCSCA, and to develop a form of identification for licenced and regulated members that will serve as a proof of compliance to clients who deal with them.