On Saturday, July 5, 2025, Haiti celebrated International Cooperatives Day, a special opportunity to highlight the role of these organizations in building a more inclusive, resilient, and equitable future.

It should be noted that Savings and Credit Cooperatives (CECs), present in the country's ten departments, mobilize more than 23 billion gourdes in savings and establish themselves as essential local actors, particularly for populations excluded from the traditional financial system. They currently support more than 1.4 million members, offering them, to varying degrees, essential financial services :

• Savings and credit;

• Local and international money transfers;

• Access to digital platforms;

• ATM and debit cards;

• Check clearing.

Driven by values ​​of personal and mutual responsibility, CECs serve the collective interest.

They support the development of their communities by financing sectors such as trade, housing, and production. They encourage the economic empowerment of families and, with the support of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), work to provide financial education to their members. These institutions play a key role in strengthening financial inclusion across the country.

How do savings and credit cooperatives contribute to financial inclusion in Haiti ?

Volume IV of the Journal on the Development of Financial Knowledge and Skills "Special Cooperative" of July 2025, published by the BRH, explores this question in a documented manner based on key figures.

This special edition addresses in particular :

• The governance and institutional challenges of CECs;

• The regulatory and supervisory framework provided by the BRH;

• Inequalities in financing, particularly by gender;

• Prospects for the digitalization of the sector.

A reference document to understand how cooperatives are expected to grow further to better address the challenges of financial exclusion and contribute concretely to the country's development.

Download the "special cooperative" issue (50-page PDF in French) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/REVUE-DEVELOPPEMENT-DE-CONNAISSANCES-ET-COMPETENCES-FINANCIERES-SPECIALE-COOPERATIVE-JUILLET-2025-VOL.-IV.pdf

HL/ HaitiLibre