Nigerian agri-tech business Mechanised Agricultural Investment and Services (Mais) has launched a US$5bn trust fund for the co-op sector to “unlock full economic potential of our people, farmlands, small businesses, and national future”.
Mais hopes the AssuredInvest Cooperative Trust Fund, launched in partnership with Maistrade Multipurpose Cooperative Society and Terra Industries, will be a transformative financial vehicle for the co-operative sector.
Other partners are Cooperative Financing Agency of Nigeria (CFAN), National Agricultural Cooperative Organisation (NACO), Cooperative Housing Federation of Nigeria (COHFON), and Akilaah National Cooperative Federation (Akilaah).
Mais chief vision officer, Benjamin Aduli, said at the launch: “Co-operative capital – when properly structured, transparently governed, and purposefully deployed – can unlock the full economic potential of our people, our farmlands, our small businesses, and our national future.”
He said the Nigerian co-op sector had been neglected for decades, adding: “Today, that era ends. With this fund, we are shifting from marginalisation to mobilisation.”
The fund will be governed by co-op law, rather than securities law, and demand-driven, he added, and is tailored to the needs of co-ops across all sectors, from housing and agriculture to small business clusters or youth groups.
“It is not a public investment scheme,” he said. “It is a secured co-operative financing framework, created by members, for members, and through members.
“The fund will be administered transparently with the oversight of trustee banks, insurance underwriters, and co-operative federations – including our partners.”
Aduli called on federations, unions, primary co-ops and affiliate networks to engage with the fund and access onboarding kits.
“Together, he added, “we are building more than a financial fund – we are building a new era of economic justice, where membership equals access and contribution guarantees returns.”
