Briefing Paper

State of Financial Cooperatives in Zambia: A Viable Option for Increasing Financial Inclusion?

This policy brief presents the summary findings of a study on Promoting Financial Cooperatives (FCs) in Zambia that was conducted between 2017 and 2018 with financial support from the Rural Finance Expansion Program (RUFEP), Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry (MCTI) and the Zambia Center for Accountancy Studies (ZCAS). The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches which included a situational analysis of FCs in Zambia, a study tour to Kenya and a Census of FCs in eight
provinces. The main objective of the study was to contribute to the development of FCs in
Zambia by generating information on their performance.