By Ovat Abeng
The people of Anambra State on Saturday, July 4th, 2026 joined other Nigerians to observed this year 2026 International Day of Cooperatives.
The event, held at Jerome Udorji Secretariat Complex, Awka, organized by the State Ministry of Commerce in conjunction with Cooperative Federation of Anambra State (COFAS) attracted Co-operative societies, entrepreneurs, media and other stakeholders across the 21 local government area of the State.
Declaring the event open, the State Commissioner for Commence Hon Nomso Chukwuma Ebonwu stressed that Co-operatives remains a strategic vehicle for achieving the goals of the solution agenda, especially in grassroots empowerment and wealth creation, which aligns with this year’s theme; ‘Co-operatives: Driving Inclusive and Sustainable Solutions for a Better World.’
Ebonwu highlighted the role of cooperative societies in grassroots development, poverty reduction, and food security, stressing that the State Government will partner with only transparent and credible local groups and the Cooperative Federation of Anambra State (COFAS) to drive the State economic transformation.
He urged the corporative bodies to work closely with agencies like the Anambra Small Business Agency (ASBA) and Bank of Industry (BOI) to help members access sustainable financing and business frameworks.
In his welcome address, the President, Co-operative Federation of Anambra State Limited (COFAS) Dr Ogochukwu Soludo stressed on the importance to reposition the Co-operative sector for greater efficiency and impact in the state and beyond.
He said: “The task before us now is to repair the breaches and rebuild the Co-operative structure and position it to deliver on it’s mandate and the current board is both willing and determined to lead the way by providing credible, principled, purposeful, value-based and responsible leadership that will revive, revitalize and reposition COFAS for efficiency and greater effectiveness.
According to him, “We have gathered here today from the 179 communities across the 21 local government areas, not just to celebrate, but to renew our purpose and determination: to organize collective effort so that cooperatives will become stronger engines of grassroots development and meaningful contributors to Anambra State’s prosperity.
“COFAS and our member societies are driven by the desire to redefine cooperative engagement by mobilizing savings and affordable credit that will help our many micro and small enterprises to start and expand, supporting youth engagement through skills-focused cooperative groups, creating livelihoods and reducing idleness, Advancing women’s economic empowerment through women-led cooperatives that boost household welfare, Serving as trusted channels for government and donor programs at the community level.
“Our major challenges that have persist and limit our impact include; “Restricted access to affordable, tailored finance and uneven financial management capacity, weak governance, record-keeping, and low digital literacy in some societies, fragmented market access and limited value addition across production chains, regulatory bottlenecks and inconsistent enabling support, youth disengagement and barriers for people with disabilities to participate fully and low public awareness about the modern cooperative model.
Soludo noted that COFAS under his watch is focusing on six practical priorities with clear, measurable steps; “launching of statewide training in cooperative governance, financial literacy, digital record-keeping, and regulatory compliance, using a training-of-trainers approach for rapid scale, Inclusive access to finance, negotiating with microfinance banks, community finance institutions, and impact investors for cooperative-friendly products, flexible collateral, and concessional windows for women, youth, and people with disabilities.
He called on the state government to integrate cooperatives into state economic planning, consider fiscal incentives, and support COFAS’ plan to set up Cooperative Development Fund.
“This year 2026 theme of International Day of Corporative is “Corporative for a peaceful world.
The event also attended by the State Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mfor, Senior Special Assistant to governor Soludo on Media, Dr Ebuka Onyekwelu, Director of Corporative department, Ministry of Commerce, Mrs Ngozi Odegbunam, former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Josephine Anenih and representatives of (BOI) equally feature exhibitions of local agricultural produce such as garri, palm oil, cassava, green teas and thousands of others.
