The document discusses enhancing cooperative businesses through digital technologies to achieve poverty alleviation and economic empowerment goals. It highlights the existing gaps in Islamic cooperative societies and proposes the development of digital platforms, 'coopmanage' and 'coopay,' to improve services and financial access for members. The recommended technologies aim to streamline operations, enhance transparency, and promote inclusion in cooperative societies.

1. ENHACING COOPERATIVE
BUSINESS THROUGH DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES
Promoting Poverty
Alleviation and Economic
Empowerment Goals of the
Government

2. BACKGROUND
Cooperative is a business owned and controlled by the people who
use its services, and who by working together, can reach an objective
unattainable by acting alone.
It is a form of business enterprise, organised on a voluntary basis
democratically controlled and member-owned to variously meet the
economic, social, and cultural needs of its members.
Cooperatives are in various forms rendering diverse services for the
members.
 Credit Unions supply financial services,
 Utility Cooperatives provide electricity, telephone and telecommunication services,
 Housing Cooperatives provide quality and affordable housing,
 Health Care Cooperatives offer comprehensive health care for their members.
Islamic Cooperative Societies (ICS) like other conventional
cooperatives offer these same business models, but, in line with the

3. THE GAPS
Most ICS majorly focus on offering financial services
to members for meeting their multi-various personal
needs
Few cooperatives operates to promote
entrepreneurial development and economic
empowerment
Inadequate number of trained co-operative staff to
work closely with the co-operatives at the
community level.
There is low awareness amongst the general public

4. THE GAPS
Lack of adequate capital to finance major projects or
grant loan requests restricts members’ ambitions.
Co-operatives suffer from low levels of investment
from the government compared to other sectors.
Inconsistency in government policies affects long-
term planning and the continuity of societies.
The advantage of the technology to enhance their
services has not been adequately explored.

5. OBJECTIVES OF COOPERATIVES
 Generate income for its members
 Improve members standard of living
 Create empowerment by granting
financial facilities to members to start
or revive a business.
 To generate funds for capital projects
where the co-operatives operate.

6. VALUE PROPOSITION
It is on this point that I recommend the use of digital technologies in
bridging the identified gaps highlighted above.
Developing a Cooperative Digital Platform referred to as
“CoopManage” to manage cooperative business
Developing and launching Cooperative Payment Platform
“CooPay” for making mobile payments by members and
disburse economic empowerment funds by the government.
This is will contribute immensely to poverty alleviation and wealth
creation goals of the cooperatives.

7. FEATURES OF COOPMANAGE
CoopManage is a digital that can:
 Register members through USSD or Website platform
 Make and record savings and other payments
 Process loans applications
 Distribute dividends to members
 Print account statements
 Prepares financial reports
 Online view members records on digital devices such as laptops,
mobile phones

8. FEATURES OF COOPMANAGE
CoopManage is a digital platform available on mobile phone and
website that can:
 Register members through USSD or Website platform
 Make and record savings and other payments
 Process loans applications
 Distribute dividends to members
 Print account statements
 Prepares financial reports
 Online view members records on digital devices such as laptops,
mobile phones

9. FEATURES OF COOPAY
CooPay is a standalone mobile payment platform
that :
 Use a combo identity and debit card
 Linked with Point of Sales
 Can be integrated with the CoopManager
 Members can use it to pay their regular
cooperative savings
 Government can use it to disburse
Intervention loans or grants to assist
cooperative members’ economic
ambitions

10. BENEFITS OF THE DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Provides information
Adopting CoopManage will enable stakeholders to understand
cooperative business more and as a result improve the cooperative
model. Information obtain from CooPay can be mined by Government
Ministries to improve on the economic programmes and policy
direction
Ensures efficiency
CoopManage enhances administration and financial records accurate
and timely disbursement
Promote inclusion
Availability of the CoopManage and CooPay on mobile phones
increases penetration and deepen Government reach to the
grassroots.

11. CONCLUSION
The stakeholder in the cooperatives sectors are hereby
appealed to adopt the use of CoopManage and
CooPay.
These applications are useful for:
The cooperative departments at the local, state and
federal government for the supervision of the
cooperatives
CBN to achieve its approved disbursement of about
75billion naira as the loan to farmers and
cooperative societies in the 36 state and the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).
The Bank of Agriculture of Nigeria to provide loans