Oikocredit holds annual general meeting, members decide on dividend

The meeting was originally planned to be held in Antigua, Guatemala, with visits to Oikocredit partner organisations in the vicinity. Due to the extraordinary circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, the AGM was instead held as a hybrid meeting with only a small number of participants gathered at the Oikocredit office in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The meeting was chaired by Supervisory Board member Maya Mungra (Suriname/the Netherlands) and approximately 80 member representatives participated and voted online.

Key decisions voted on

The members approved the annual accounts for 2019 and discharged the Managing Board and Supervisory Board from their respective responsibilities in 2019.

Proposals approved at the AGM included:

• the Managing Board and Supervisory Board’s proposal to not pay a dividend for 2019,
• amendments to the articles of association allowing (i) that members may also participate (including voting) though tele and web conferencing facilities in both ordinary and extraordinary general meetings and (ii) Supervisory Board meetings to be held through tele and web conferencing systems and
• a guideline regarding the location of the AGM which will in three consecutive years take place once in a country where Oikocredit works with partners and twice in the Netherlands.

Appointments and elections

Supervisory Board member Joseph Patterson (Jamaica/Canada) was appointed to serve on the Supervisory Board for a second term.

Members thanked outgoing Supervisory Board members Annette Austin (Australia) and Åsa Norell (Sweden), whose second terms on the board ended, for their valuable contributions to Oikocredit.

Following the decision of the AGM 2019 to reduce the number of board members from 11 to 9, no new candidates were elected to the board.

Three new members were elected to the Members’ Council: Ueli Burkhalter (Switzerland), Anita Clemons (USA), and Peter Ohligschläger (Germany).