The Co-operative Movement and African Union

Abstract

The core objective of this paper is to align the co-operative movements in African development with the African Union (AU) economic objectives, in particular, and the AU objectives, in general. Those economic objectives are mainly two; namely: to promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels and to promote cooperation in all fields of economic activity to raise the standards of all African peoples. A general synthesis of the two economic objectives of the African Union is congruent with the definition of the co-operative enterprise. According to the ICA (1995), a co-operative is an autonomous association of persons, united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. The co-operative enterprise promotes economic, social and cultural aspirations. Co-operatives, therefore, have the organizational capacity of inclusiveness of the African rural population in addressing challenges of poverty through education and training, employment creation and entrepreneurship. However, in addressing poverty, co-operatives are confronted with a number of challenges. These include the discovery of new business knowledge and practices, accessing appropriate empowering education and skills as well as strong value based leadership. This paper argues that there is an organic interface between the African Union and co-operative organisations because while the African Union provides the landscape for linking African countries, the co-operative enterprise provides the most nationalistic organisational framework for economic empowerment of the largest proportion of the rural population in Africa.