Establishing a Health Sector-wide Staff Savings and Loan Association to Improve Staff Retention in Rwanda

Health Care Financing,
Technical Briefs & Case Studies

Establishing a Health Sector-wide Staff Savings and Loan Association to Improve Staff Retention in Rwanda

A key challenge identified by a study on health sector staff retention, conducted by the USAID-funded Rwanda Health Systems Strengthening Project in 2017, was the lack of access to credit at a reasonable interest rate from commercial banks for building a home, purchasing essential items or meeting emergency expenses. To enhance staff motivation and retention, the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders in the health sector championed the establishment of a savings and credit scheme, called the Health Sector Staff Mutual Aid Group (HSS-MAG), through which health sector staff can accumulate savings and access affordable credit.

More than 11,000 health staff from most public health institutions and facilities across the country have enrolled in the program, incentivizing them to remain public health sector employees.