Innovation in Governance: The Case of the Fiji Nursing & Associates Credit Union

One of the reasons for the success of Fiji Nursing and Associates Credit Union (FNACU) was through innovation in governance by making amendments to the Credit Union Act to allow for expansion of their membership to paramedics and minors. Cooperatives including credit unions have played a significant role in alleviating poverty and promoting economic growth worldwide as well as in the Asia, Pacific regions. Some of the most successful cooperatives are the Mondragon group and Grameen Bank. For this study the FNACU is selected due to its success in the cooperative sector in Fiji. Emphasis is placed on the case of the FNACU studying its background, financial status and problems faced by the FNACU and the factors that contributed to its success. The published materials including reports, minutes of meetings and financial statements were studied. The case study discussed resulted from these meetings, observations and visits. The performance of the cooperative took into account its profitability, benefits received by the members, homogeneity of their memberships, and the key role played by the Bergengren Credit Union Training School and the Fiji Credit Union League in making FNACU a success story.