Seamfix Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Security and the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria to develop and
deploy the National Cooperative Smart Registry, a national digital registry for registering
and verifying Nigeria’s cooperative societies and their members.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at an official ceremony held in
Abuja and presided over by the Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food
Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi CON,
on 12th August 2026.
The partnership represents a major step in the implementation of the Renewed Hope
Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP 2030) and the Federal
Government’s efforts to modernise Nigeria’s cooperative sector.
The digital infrastructure comprises the National Cooperative Smart Registry (NCSR), the
Cooperative Verification Number (CVN) for cooperative societies, and the Cooperative
Member Identification Number (CoopID), which links every cooperative member’s
verified identity to their National Identification Number (NIN).
Today, most cooperative societies in Nigeria manage their membership records
manually. This makes it difficult to confirm who is genuinely registered, slows down
access to government support, and leaves the sector’s true size and structure largely
invisible to the formal economy. The NCSR will change this by giving cooperatives a
digital register that ties each member’s CoopID directly to their NIN.
The NCSR is designed to support, not replace, the statutory registration and regulatory
responsibilities of the Federal Department of Cooperatives at the national level, and the
State and FCT Departments and Directorates of Cooperatives within their respective
jurisdictions. Together, the NCSR, CVN and CoopID will give the sector the transparency it
has not had before.
Nigeria has more than 370,000 registered cooperative societies with an estimated
membership in the tens of millions, spanning agriculture, commerce, manufacturing,
housing, transport and finance. Despite the sector’s scale and economic significance, fragmented records and manual verification processes have held the sector back.
Digitalising cooperatives would strengthen their capacity to access finance and
government interventions, while providing the data needed to drive better planning and
investment.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Honourable Minister stated:
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, the Federal
Government is committed to building a cooperative sector that is modern, transparent,
accountable and fully integrated into Nigeria’s formal economy. The National
Cooperative Smart Registry will establish a trusted national framework for verified
cooperative information while preserving the statutory powers of the Federal, State and
FCT cooperative regulatory authorities within their respective jurisdictions.
“The successful implementation of this initiative will depend on close collaboration with
the Federal Department of Cooperatives and the State and FCT Departments and
Directorates of Cooperatives, whose registration and regulatory responsibilities are
central to the integrity and sustainability of the system.
“Through NCSR, we will improve regulatory coordination, strengthen the targeting of
government interventions, reduce fraud and duplication, and make genuine cooperative
societies and their members more visible within the systems established to serve them.
“The Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, as the umbrella body of the cooperative
movement, will support sectoral sensitisation, engagement and mobilisation, while
Seamfix Limited will provide the required technical infrastructure. By bringing together
government regulatory institutions, the cooperative movement and our technical
partner, we are laying the foundation for greater trust, financial inclusion, agricultural
transformation, food security and inclusive economic growth.”
Chimezie Emewulu, Group CEO of Seamfix Limited, said:
“At Seamfix, we believe that identity is not a privilege, it is a right. And the right to be seen,
verified, and trusted is the foundation on which everything else in a modern economy is
built. The NCSR is not just a registration programme, it is infrastructure, the layer that
connects a cooperative to the systems built to serve it. We are honoured to be the
partner delivering this alongside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, and we are
committed to doing so with the same rigour we have brought to every national
programme we have built.”
Frank Atube, Executive Director and COO of Seamfix Limited, added:
“For too long, this sector has operated without a digital system connecting its records, a
gap that has left cooperatives relying on manual processes to manage their members’
identity information, and government interventions struggling to reach the right
beneficiaries. Through the CVN, every registered cooperative society gets a verified
digital identity. Through the CoopID, every cooperator’s identity is tied directly to their
NIN, making them visible not only to the communities that have always known them, but
to the formal economy that was always meant to serve them.”
Under the agreement, FMAFS will provide national policy direction and regulatory
leadership; the State and FCT cooperative authorities will serve as essential
implementation collaborators within their jurisdictions; CFN will lead stakeholder
engagement and mobilisation; and Seamfix Limited will provide the technology and
infrastructure required to deploy and operate the platform.
By connecting verified cooperative information nationally, the NCSR will lay the
foundation for a more visible, trusted, and inclusive cooperative sector, one that
advances agricultural development, food security, financial inclusion, employment
creation, and Nigeria’s broader economic transformation.
ABOUT SEAMFIX LIMITED
Seamfix Limited is a pan-African digital identity and trust infrastructure company
building the systems that make Africa’s digital economy trustworthy. With over a decade
of experience delivering national-scale identity and verification programmes, Seamfix
has supported the enrollment of over 130 million Nigerians in partnership with the
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), delivered SIM registration
compliance solutions for Africa’s telecommunications sector, and deployed the ePass
digital passport platform for the Republic of Benin’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The company operates across six African markets: Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, the Republic of
Benin, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana, and has managed over 350 million identities.
Seamfix’s product portfolio includes BioSmartX, Fixiam, ePass, and FixID.
ABOUT THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is the Federal Government
institution responsible for formulating and coordinating national policies and
programmes for agriculture, food security and cooperative development.
Through the Federal Department of Cooperatives, the Ministry provides national policy
and regulatory leadership for the cooperative sector and exercises statutory
responsibility for the registration and regulation of cooperative societies operating at the
national level. The Ministry also collaborates with State and FCT cooperative authorities
to promote regulatory coordination, institutional development and the sustainable
growth of cooperatives across Nigeria.
ABOUT STATE AND FCT COOPERATIVE AUTHORITIES
The State and FCT Departments and Directorates of Cooperatives are government
institutions with statutory responsibility for registering, regulating and supervising
cooperative societies within their respective jurisdictions.
As critical implementation collaborators, they will support the validation, migration,
updating and integrity of cooperative records within their States and the FCT, while
retaining their respective statutory powers and responsibilities.
ABOUT THE COOPERATIVE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA
The Cooperative Federation of Nigeria is the national umbrella body representing
Nigeria’s cooperative movement. It provides a platform for cooperative organisations
and their members to engage on matters affecting the growth, development and
collective interests of the sector.
Under this partnership, CFN will support stakeholder engagement, sensitisation and
mobilisation across the cooperative movement, complementing the statutory
responsibilities of the Federal, State and FCT cooperative regulatory authorities.
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