South Africa has some of the highest mobile voice and data costs in the world. A project to deliver affordable services and keep money in communities with high unemployment rates could be the answer.
Mechanisation of agricultural activity can help many African countries unlock underutilised agricultural potential. But there are serious obstacles which must be removed.
The shocking and rapid resignation of Euan Sutherland, the chief executive of the Co-operative Group, shines a light on the clash of cultures being played out at the top of this organisation. Sutherland…
As a parallel to fuel poverty, where the cost of heating and lighting accounts for 10% of a household’s income, the RAC Foundation has suggested a similar idea of transport poverty. And while Britain’s…
Long a favoured model for Australian farmers operating in a risky and precarious industry, cooperatives seem increasingly anachronistic as greater numbers move toward demutualisation. This is a mistake…
Collapsing business deals, massive financial losses, and a “junk” rating have made recent months a nightmare for the Co-op Bank. In March it announced losses of £634m for the 2012 financial year, largely…
Back in the early 1980s, the former Secretary of State for Education in Harold Wilson’s Labour government, Shirley Williams, alerted me to a remarkable instance of regional economic development through…
Yesterday, 10,500 New Zealand farmers voted to allow Fonterra, one of the world’s leading dairy cooperatives, to be exposed to outside investors for the first time. 66.45% of Fonterra members voted for…
Tim Mazzarol, The University of Western Australia and Elena Limnios, The University of Western Australia
2012 is the United Nation’s International Year of the Co-operative. This is a once in 25 year opportunity to acknowledge these important but often misunderstood businesses. What is a co-operative or mutual…