Abstract:
The main purpose of this study was to examine the assessment of the operational performance of
cooperatives in Burayu town, Shagar City, Oromia, Ethiopia. A cooperative is an enterprise or
organization owned by operated for one benefit of those using its service. Burayu saving and
credit cooperative societies is operationally insufficient low image on the advantage SACCOs.
The purpose of this study is to offer the valuable suggestion based on findings. The study
followed a quantitative research approach and an explanatory research design. Using purposive
sampling, 192 respondents were selected from 368 affiliated members. The data used in the
analysis comprises secondary data, and a panel data regression model is also used for the
analysis. The major determinant factors that affect the outreach of SACCOs by taking loan size
as a measurement are the amount of savings, level of interest rate on savings, and amount of
dividend paid to members, which have a positive relationship and are statistically significant,
and the other determinants that have a positive relationship but are statistically insignificant are
the age of SACCOs, income per capital, and maturity date. On the other hand, when the number
of SACCO's members is taken into account, the amount of saving and income per capita have a
positive relationship and significantly affect SACCO's outreach. Similarly, the age of SACCOs,
dividends paid to members, and maturity date affect the number of SACCOs members positively,
but they are insignificant. In addition, the major determinant factor that negatively affects loan
size and is statistically significant is the level of interest on borrowing. In the same way, MEMB
is negatively affected by LIB and LIS, but its significance level is weak. Therefore, the researcher
recommends SACCOs pay high attention to attracting members to increase their source of funds
by providing awareness about the benefits of joining SACCOs, using social media, providing
training to clients, and distributing brochures to clients. If funds are available, SACCOs should
encourage members to take loans to increase dividends for idle funds, charge a compatible
interest rate on loans to attract members, increase the duration of loan repayment, and finally,
the Federal Cooperatives Agency should pay attention to the continuous supervision of SACCOs.
