Last week, Athlone Credit Union hosted a delegation of credit union leaders, representing Albania, Russia, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.
Athlone Credit Union in partnership with the Irish League of Credit Unions Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the Irish credit union movement, welcomed the overseas delegates to share in the experiences of credit unions in Ireland.
The ILCU Foundation provides financial and technical assistance to help strengthen credit union movements overseas. The ultimate aim of the foundation is to alleviate poverty by providing access to financial services in some of the most rural parts of the world.
The Irish credit union movement is one of the most popular credit union movements in the world and this visit will allow the overseas visitors to speak and visit staff and to observe daily operations first hand.
The week also offers an opportunity to share experiences of credit union development from the visiting delegates, discuss, and address challenges and strategically plan for future support from the foundation.
Speaking at the event, Mick Dillon said: “We are pleased to support the International Partner’s Workshop event held by the ILCU Foundation, which is a long established partner of Athlone Credit Union. Through this partnership Athlone Credit Union can provide the visiting delegates with vast knowledge of credit union operations.”
Baboucarr Jeng, general manager of the National Association of Cooperatives and Credit Unions in Gambia added: “This is an excellent opportunity to learn and share from both the Irish Credit Union movement and other credit union movements in Africa and Eastern Europe. On behalf of the Gambian credit union movement, I would like to thank Athlone Credit Union for allowing us to travel to Ireland to learn from their vast experience.”
