Nigeria launches digital identity infrastructure for cooperative sector

The Nigerian Federal Government has launched a digital transformation initiative for the cooperative sector as part of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP) 2030. To implement this, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria and Seamfix Limited to deploy the National Cooperative Identity, Trust and Digital Governance Infrastructure.

The initiative introduces the National Cooperative Smart Registry (NCSR), which will facilitate the issuance of Cooperative Verification Numbers (CVN) for organizations and Cooperative Member Identification Numbers (CoopID) for individuals. These tools are intended to build trust, visibility, and integrity within the ecosystem, providing the necessary data infrastructure for the proposed Cooperative Bank of Nigeria.

A six-month national revalidation and re-certification exercise has commenced. During this period, existing cooperatives must approach their respective State Departments of Cooperatives to verify and authenticate their registration records before being onboarded onto the new digital platform.