Areas of work

CoopAfrica areas of work are responding to cooperatives support needed. They are consisting of four key elements:

• Challenge Fund for innovation, trainings and services
  for innovative co-op ventures, trainings and subcontracts which provides support services - including expertise and advisory services, and development of training materials.
• Establishing and enabling legal and policy environment
  conducive for cooperative stakeholders’ development.
• Promotion of effective co-ordination structures
  such as for example cooperative unions and federations.

What support do cooperatives need?

• Getting the legal framework right;
• Appropriate support to promote business development;
• Business skills and member governance skills (to prevent capture by elites, professional managers, etc);
• Help with market access, such as trading links including North-South co-operative to co-operative links; and
• Improve understanding by donors and others that they are businesses and part of the private sector but they also have elements of civil society organisations.