Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security renewed its commitment on October 9 to implement a national identity reform for cooperatives at a summit in Abuja. The ministry said the country has more than 370,000 registered cooperative societies, over 30 million members and estimated annual turnover exceeding 1.7 trillion naira.

Under the plan described by the ministry, a National Cooperative Digital Architecture Platform will deliver a national societies register, a verifiable cooperative number and a CoopID identity system. The ministry said an implementation memorandum among the ministry, the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria and SEAMFIX was signed on August 12 and work had begun without cost to federal or state governments. It set a five-year target to raise cooperative assets from 1.7 trillion to 5 trillion naira; the release does not say the platform is complete or that the target has been achieved.