Mombasa: Bandari SACCO has cited the ongoing expansion of Lamu Port and the planned refinery project as part of the growth opportunities driving its expansion plans. And in the meantime, the coast-based savings and credit cooperative is exploiting the ongoing Mombasa International Show to woo new members and showcase its products.
According to Kenya News Agency, Bandari SACCO Chairman Ken Sungu stated that the society, whose membership is drawn largely from Kenya Ports Authority staff and the wider public, has continued to post strong returns for members even as it pushes into new markets. “We believe we are the best SACCO in the country in terms of dividends paid in a year. Last year we paid 18 per cent dividends and 12.5 per cent interest on deposits,” Sungu said.
He noted that the SACCO, headquartered in Mombasa, has been extending credit to traders, farmers, and small business owners across its branch network, which now covers Mombasa, Nairobi, Kisumu, and Lamu, with a new branch set to open in Eldoret. The Lamu branch was opened specifically to bring fishermen and other small business owners in the region into the SACCO’s fold, with tailored products to support their trade.
Sungu linked the SACCO’s optimism to the scale of infrastructure investment taking shape in Lamu, noting that the region hosts one of the largest deep-water ports under the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor and is set to host a major oil refinery. “As these developments come up, more people will move into the area, and business will grow. We want to be there to serve them,” he said.
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is targeting a groundbreaking by October 2026 for a 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu, a project whose cost has been revised down to about $16 billion (approximately Sh2 trillion). Once complete, the plant is expected to become East Africa’s largest refinery, supplying Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Sudan, helping cut the region’s reliance on imported refined fuel.
Government estimates suggest the project’s potential employment impact at about 60,000 direct and indirect jobs across construction, engineering, and logistics, with the facility expected to draw on Lamu Port’s deep-water berths and its links to the wider LAPSSET corridor into South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Sungu mentioned that the growing economic activity around Lamu had already begun drawing more residents, including fishermen and farmers, into the SACCO. He added that most new members in the area are Muslim, prompting the SACCO to develop Sharia-compliant financial products expected to receive regulatory approval within the next month.
Regarding its product range, Sungu said the SACCO offers short-term, emergency, business, and rent-financing loans, as well as a Local Purchase Order (LPO) financing product that allows traders who have secured tenders or contracts but lack upfront capital to access funding to execute the work before repaying once paid.
The Chairman highlighted that the SACCO is also selling titled plots in Bamburi Kiembeni at Sh2 million each, an area with an already-tarmacked access road, compared to market rates of about Sh4 million for similar plots in the area. Sungu stated that the SACCO was strengthening its marketing team and expanding its outreach to informal traders, including motorbike operators and vegetable vendors, as part of efforts to grow its membership base, adding that the society had recorded positive growth across its business lines in the first few months of the year.
