BLANTYRE, Malawi — Participants from across Africa, parts of Europe and North America representing more than 400 credit union delegates kicked off WOCCU's Africa Congress yesterday.

Participants from across Africa, parts of Europe and North America are meeting through November 2 for the first time in the African nation here to discuss issues around the theme “SACCOs: Mobilizing Savings for Sustainable Community Development.” SACCO, which stands for Savings and Credit Co-operative, is the acronym often used to describe Africa's credit unions.

For four days, participants will hear from international speakers about challenges and best practices on a host of topics, including not only savings mobilization and community development, but also global credit union development, technology, branding and HIV/AIDS programs.

New to this year's Africa Congress is WOCCU's supplemental Manager Certification Program, a two-year course of study modeled after the Western CUNA Management School for current and aspiring credit union managers. The program offers training on a range of topics, including financial analysis, marketing, savings mobilization and credit administration.