Frequently Asked Questions

BASU Rural Women Savings and Credit Association (BASU SACCO) is a registered, deposit-taking savings and credit co-operative founded in 2010. We hold registration No. 9494 under the Uganda Co-operative Societies Act (Cap 490). We are owned and governed entirely by our members, operating primarily to serve rural women, small farmers, and youth entrepreneurs in the Rwenzori region of Western Uganda.

Our primary focus is empowering rural women, solidarity trade groups, VSLAs (Village Savings & Loan Associations), and smallholder farmers along Western Uganda. However, membership is open to all residents, youth groups, and micro-entrepreneurs in our district sub-counties who align with our co-operative principles and are committed to consistent weekly or monthly savings.

Becoming a shareholder and member is simple:

• Visit our main office in Kasese town to pick up an onboarding application, or fill out the digital inquiry form under our Membership page.
• Pay the one-time cooperative registration fee.
• Purchase at least one starting cooperative share capital to activate ownership.
• Establish your savings account with a flexible starting deposit, and submit 2 passport photos and a valid ID copy.

We offer three custom savings products:

• Individual Ordinary Savings: Highly flexible daily/weekly account for traders who need frequent withdrawals for business capital.
• Group / VSLA Custody Savings: A secure escrow account with dual-signature security, acting as a safe vault for self-managed community savings circles.
• Target / Education Savings (Lock Accounts): A locked high-yield account to fund school fees or agricultural seeds, paying a supportive 6% compound annual interest.

We disburse credit strictly for productive purposes under three streams:

• Women's Enterprise & Agriculture: Funding crop seeds, organic fertilizers, start-up stock, or crop-processing milling gear.
• Household & Energy Support: Financing solar home systems, clean water tanks, and energy-efficient clay cook stoves.
• Education Support: Subsidizing term-basis school fees to protect members from panic-selling productive assets.

To qualify for a cooperative micro-loan, an applicant must be a fully registered member of BASU SACCO, have maintained consistent weekly or monthly savings deposits for at least 4 weeks, possess a viable business or agricultural plan, and undergo a pre-loan financial mentoring session with our credit officers. Loans are backed by group solidarity guarantees or small local assets.

We go beyond simple micro-credit by incubating collective cooperative businesses. We operate central milling machines to process raw maize into packaged flour (BASU Family Flour), supply Langstroth beehives and filter gear for organic honey production (BASU Honey), excavate community aquaculture fish ponds, and fund motorcycles to improve market transport logistics.

Donors can support BASU's outreach by pledging funds under our Support Our Mission page. You can choose to sponsor a woman entrepreneur ($50 for a business starter kit), seed a new Village Savings group ($150 for metal boxes and loan capital), or fund an expert-led financial training workshop ($250 for 30 members). All pledges can be completed via MTN/Airtel Mobile Money or Bank Swift transfers.

Unlike traditional NGOs, BASU is a grassroots cooperative. 100% of donor-directed funds go directly to local operations to buy toolkits, supply hives, excavate fish ponds, and fund workshops. None of your contributions are spent on administrative marketing or executive salaries. All allocations are audited and published under our Reports & Transparency page.

Our main headquarters and co-operative office is located at Plot 12, Rwenzori Road, Kasese Municipality, Western Uganda. We operate multiple local community outreach desks across surrounding mountain sub-counties.

We actively collaborate with international developmental organizations, NGOs, agricultural unions, and social investors. Partners can cooperate with BASU by providing wholesale credit refinancing capital, funding technical training modules, or sponsoring eco-energy stove distributions. Please fill out the inquiry form under our Partners page to submit a proposal.