How was the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives for you and your organisation?
The year 2025 was a historic and significant period for the co-operative movement globally and across Africa, following its proclamation by the United Nations as the International Year of Cooperatives. For ICA-Africa, it was an opportunity to elevate the visibility of co-operatives, strengthen policy engagement and deepen capacity-building efforts across the continent.
One of the year’s early milestones was the hosting of the 11th Technical Committee of the Africa Ministerial Cooperative Conference (TCAMCCO), held in Morocco which marked the official launch of the International Year of Cooperatives in Africa, setting the tone for a year of continental engagement.
Throughout 2025, ICA-Africa advanced its work across key priority areas. On gender equality, the organization launched the ICA-Africa Framework for the Establishment of National Cooperative Gender Platforms, reinforcing the role of co-operatives in promoting inclusive participation. In East and Southern Africa, capacity-building efforts continued through the REGCoop project supported by Norges Vel.
Notably, organisational and capacity needs assessments were conducted in Tanzania in collaboration with the Tanzania Federation of Cooperatives and Moshi Cooperative University, while Cooperative Fundamentals Training of Trainers was delivered in Mozambique to strengthen co-operative education at grassroots level.
Related: African Union joins UN social and solidarity economy task force
Policy engagement remained central to ICA-Africa’s mandate. In collaboration with FAO and ICA-AP, a new policy brief was released highlighting the role of co-operatives in transforming agrifood systems and advancing food security. The year also saw the official launch of the Model Law on Cooperatives for Africa by the Pan-African Parliament, an important step toward creating more enabling legislative environments for co-operatives in Africa.
A major highlight was the 14th Africa Ministerial Cooperative Conference (AMCCO), held in October in Nairobi, Kenya, which brought together over 500 co-operators and policymakers. The conference saw the signing of the Nairobi Declaration on Regional Cooperative Development, a collective commitment from ministers and representatives from 15 African countries to strengthening the co-operative movement.
Alongside the conference, ICA-Africa convened learning and engagement spaces, including the Seven Cooperative Principles Run/Walk, Alternative Dispute Resolution training, a Design Dash workshop and a Regional Dialogue of Cooperative Development Organizations under the ICA–EU partnership. Governance milestones were also achieved with the successful convening of the 18th ICA-Africa Regional Assembly and the election of a new regional board for the 2025–2029 term.
Youth engagement advanced significantly in 2025. ICA-Africa co-organised the International Forum We, the Youth (IFWY) Africa & Middle East Regional Dialogue with UNRISD, MBC and Debate Korea, bringing together 50 youth leaders. The forum provided a platform to share perspectives and explore solutions to social, economic, and environmental challenges, highlighting the critical role of youth leadership in shaping the future.
What are your hopes for 2026?
It’s our hope that 2026 will present more opportunities for growth for our co-operative movement. Our focus for the coming year includes:
- Convening the 12th TCAMCCO Conference in Mozambique
- Advocating for countries to use the Pan-African Model Law on Cooperatives as a guiding framework for drafting, revising, and implementing national co-operative laws
- Supporting the establishment of National Cooperative Gender Platforms
- Launching a framework for the establishment of national co-operative youth platforms.
