Abuja: The Federal Government has announced that the digitalisation of the cooperative sector is part of an economic and institutional reform strategy aimed at enhancing the sector’s role in national development. This initiative was highlighted by Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, during the National Technical Workshop on Cooperative Sector Digitalisation under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP) 2030.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the minister emphasized the importance of the workshop as a step towards moving from discussions about reform to actual implementation. The digitalisation programme is intended to establish the foundational infrastructure needed to better connect cooperatives to financial resources, markets, government interventions, and other economic opportunities. Abdullahi identified the National Cooperative Smart Registry (NCSR) as a key component of this transformati
on, supporting cooperative search, registration, verification, and digital governance.
The programme will also facilitate the Cooperative Verification Number (CVN), providing a verifiable identity for cooperative organizations, and the Cooperative Member Identification Number (CoopID), which will offer a unique identity framework for cooperative members. Abdullahi noted that together, the NCSR, CVN, and CoopID would serve as a crucial foundation for building trust, visibility, and integrity within Nigeria’s cooperative ecosystem.
This digital transformation is closely linked to the proposed Cooperative Bank of Nigeria (CoopBank). The NCSR, CVN, and CoopID will provide the verified data, identity, and trust infrastructure required for share subscription, credit profiling, risk management, and the sustainable operation of the bank. The RH-CRRP is designed to help the country realize the economic and social potential of the cooperative movement by addressing key challenges such as governance, regulation, acces
s to finance, institutional capacity, market access, inclusion, partnerships, data management, and digitalisation.
Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, there is a commitment to building a cooperative ecosystem that is modern, inclusive, transparent, and accountable, capable of contributing significantly to food security, financial inclusion, job creation, and shared prosperity. Abdullahi pointed out that a major weakness of the cooperative ecosystem has been the absence of trusted and nationally coordinated digital infrastructure, which is crucial for effective financing, regulation, and building trust around institutions.
The minister emphasized that digitalisation must improve transparency and accountability, simplify cooperative administration, and provide reliable information for policy and planning. He urged the Federal Department of Cooperatives, state directors of cooperatives, Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (CFN), and other stakeholders to treat implementation
as a shared national responsibility, stressing the need for collaboration between the Federal Government and states to coordinate the cooperative ecosystem for the benefit of members.
Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, stated that the workshop marked a significant reform milestone in organizing, managing, and scaling the Nigerian cooperative ecosystem. Ogunbiyi mentioned that cooperatives play a strategic role in national food security, rural economic stability, and grassroots empowerment. He stressed the need for the cooperative movement to transition from analogue operations to an integrated, secure, and transparent digital architecture to meet the demands of modern commerce and governance.
The RH-CRRP 2030 aims to modernize the cooperative sector, boost financial inclusion, address fraudulent practices, and unlock capital for smallholder producers and cooperatives. The digital infrastructure being developed, starting with the CVN and Smart Registry, will be the primary strategy for
transparently delivering input subsidies and credit interventions, as well as technical assistance directly to verified cooperators under the World Bank-assisted AGROW project.