The Federal Government is moving to digitalise Nigeria’s cooperative sector, with State Directors of Cooperatives across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) being tasked with driving the programme at state and community levels.

The directive was issued during a National Technical Workshop on Cooperative Sector Digitalisation organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with its technical partner, Seamfix Limited, according to a statement by the government agency.

At the centre of the digitalisation programme is the National Cooperative Smart Registry (NCSR), a digital platform being developed to support the registration, verification and data management of cooperative organisations and their members across Nigeria.

Under the proposed system, cooperative organisations will receive a Cooperative Verification Number (CVN), while individual members will be assigned a Cooperative Member Identification Number (CoopID).

The government says the identifiers will strengthen the registration, verification and monitoring of cooperatives while providing a more reliable digital record of organisations and their members.

Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, says the Federal Government cannot digitalise the cooperative sector from Abuja alone, making the involvement of state cooperative departments critical to the programme’s implementation.

He therefore urged the State Directors of Cooperatives to take ownership of the initiative and ensure that the digitalisation effort reaches cooperatives and their members at the grassroots.

The digital infrastructure, the ministry says, is also expected to generate verified cooperative-sector data that can support financing, credit profiling and risk management.

The data could help government institutions and development partners identify verified cooperative organisations and members for targeted interventions, financing and other forms of support.

The digitalisation drive is part of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme 2030, which the Federal Government says is designed to modernise Nigeria’s cooperative sector and strengthen its contribution to financial inclusion and economic development.

The initiative is also expected to address longstanding challenges around fragmented cooperative records, verification and access to reliable sector data by creating a centralised digital registry.

During the workshop, Seamfix Limited conducted a live demonstration of the digital platform, giving state cooperative officials an opportunity to see how the proposed system will support registration and verification processes.

The Federal Government is now looking to state cooperative authorities to translate the national digitalisation framework into implementation at state and community levels as the NCSR rollout progresses.