Stakeholders attending the 10th technical committee of the Africa Ministerial Co-operative Conference, recently held in Kenya, urged for the political and economic integration of Africa through the co-operative movement.
The meeting heard that the integration process in Africa can be fast-tracked through the co-operative movement. Plans are already underway for the co-op model to unite the continent and help it fight various challenges.
“What we are doing now is sharing best practice, experience and exposing the movement’s leadership across Africa to progressive ideas,” Kenya’s Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Development Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui told the conference.
This gathering brought together top officials in governments, the co-operative movement and other relevant stakeholders.
Ayeola Oriyomi, President of International Co-operative Alliance Africa(ICA-Africa), said: “The emphasis now is how to come together, collaborate and leverage on our capacity, unity and oneness of co-operative movement to maximize this benefit of co-operation.
This conference attracted participants from various countries, including Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Cote d’ Ivoire, Egypt, Eswatini, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, United States of America and Zimbabwe.
According to a study by Dr Olugbenga Rotimi Olusanjo of the Co-operative Federation of Nigeria (CFN), while the size of co-operatives globally has grown exponentially over the past decade, the impact of this sector on economic integration and development is still dismal, especially in Africa.
Scholars blame this scenario on the absence of cooperation practices among co-operatives due to low education, capacity building, economic empowerment and intra and inter-regional development in Africa. Globally, the level of cooperation among co-operatives in the developed countries appears better, while that of Africa remains unappealing.
Experts warn that if this situation is not addressed urgently, then the level of integration and development among African countries will suffer, especially in this post-Covid-19 era.
Dr Olusanjo concludes that cooperation practices among co-operatives exert an enormous effect on economic integration and development and is a tool that can be harnessed to achieve such goals.
ICA Africa observes that there are tremendous opportunities for Africa set up strong and sustainable value chains through cooperation among co-operatives, especially in light of the Africa Free Trade Area that will enable inter-cooperative trade.
Experts contend that there is a need to address barriers to cooperation among co-operatives in Africa, including vast geographical distances between these co-operatives, competition for membership and funds, perception of other co-operatives as rivals, political and religious differences and lack of experience/skills in the governance of co-operatives, which all undermine cooperation among the co-operatives both at the local and Africa level.
Analysts also suggest that Co-operatives in Africa must purposefully create access to national and international markets and reposition themselves into higher value-added economic activities along their respective supply chains.
These Societies also need to conduct more baseline surveys to collect data on co-operatives so that this crucial intelligence can be utilized to promote inter-trade among co-operatives in Africa.
Other proposals include the need for African co-operatives to sync and have common co-operative platforms for borderless markets and a legal policy framework in the form of an African charter for co-operatives that will set up rules for cross-border cooperation.
An inter and intra-Country legal and structural policy framework must also be set up to enable the establishment of links between co-operatives across borders.
