Seamfix, Federal Government and CFN sign agreement to launch National Digital Identity Infrastructure for Nigeria’s Cooperative Sector

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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 identity and verification infrastructure that will register, verify, and connect cooperative societies and their members across Nigeria.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed at an official ceremony held in Abuja on 12th August 2026, 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.

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 infrastructure comprises three interconnected components: the National Cooperative Smart Registry (NCSR), which will serve as Nigeria’s single authoritative national platform for verified cooperative information; the Cooperative Verification Number (CVN), which will issue every registered cooperative society a unique verified digital identity; and the Cooperative Member Identification Number (CoopID), which will provide a corresponding verified identifier for every individual cooperative member.

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 strengthen regulatory coordination, improve transparency, reduce duplication and fraud, and improve the targeting of government interventions and support programmes.

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 the absence of an interoperable national verification framework have limited cooperatives’ access to finance, markets, and other formal economic opportunities — constraining the sector’s full contribution to national development.

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 the Cooperative Verification Number and the Cooperative Member Identification Number, 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.

“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 a verified, trusted digital identity 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 unified national identity framework — a

gap that has left government interventions struggling to reach the right beneficiaries, and legitimate cooperatives unable to prove their existence in ways institutions would recognise. Through the CVN, every registered cooperative society gets a verified national identity; through the CoopID, every cooperator becomes visible too — 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 Departments and Directorates of Cooperatives will serve as essential implementation collaborators within their jurisdictions; CFN will serve as the umbrella body and lead stakeholder engagement and mobilisation; and Seamfix Limited will provide the technology and digital identity infrastructure required to deploy and operate the platform.

Beyond registration and verification, the NCSR establishes the trusted data foundation that Nigeria’s cooperative sector has long needed — enabling financial institutions to lend with confidence, government agencies to target support with precision, and cooperative societies to participate fully in the economic systems built to serve them. It is infrastructure for a more productive, inclusive, and prosperous Nigeria.

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.

Abouth 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 Cooperatives 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.