Digital Africa Rising

Join us in Mombasa, a historic trading hub along the coast of the Indian Ocean, for “Digital Africa Rising.” This pioneering, pan-African PCC conference envisions a future where digital transformation is seen as a crucial chapter in a broader narrative of justice, aligning with cooperative principles and values to drive advancements in infrastructure, education, healthcare, agriculture, and technology.

This conference convenes public officials, co-op practitioners, researchers, tech innovators, environmental stewards, leaders from Non-Governmental Organizations, policymakers, artists, human rights champions, and gender equality advocates. Together, we’ll address Africa’s urgent need for a shared digital future rooted in Cooperativism, using platform co-op models for grassroots economic development, and fostering inclusivity, especially for women, youth, and all stakeholders, towards an equitable and sustainable tomorrow.

Providing a space for all participants, “Digital Africa Rising” facilitates the exchange of knowledge and strategies, encouraging collaboration and innovation to shape and enhance a collective digital future.

Logistics of the conference: Cooperative University of Kenya

Download the program

Topics

• Reviewing the transformative potential of digital technologies in chamas (informal cooperative savings and investment groups common in East Africa) and other collectives across sectors like finance, housing, agriculture, healthcare, transportation and more. Engaging with Platform Cooperativism, the conference examines successful global models, while also exploring innovative African approaches that provide fresh perspectives on digital platform governance and ownership.
• Spotlighting Africa’s robust cooperative movement and its substantial contributions to the continent’s economies.
• Exploring how digital platforms can improve cooperation among cooperatives, leading to stronger economic activity.
• Discovering strategies for a Pan-African Network, the conference aims to unite isolated cooperative initiatives into a comprehensive network while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of ethical supply chains. Investigating how merging cooperatives can broaden collaboration, boost decentralized and participatory decision-making.
• Exploring the potential for inter-cooperative collaboration, the conference investigates opportunities for various cooperative enterprises to join forces, such as worker cooperatives partnering with credit unions, housing coops, and consumer cooperatives.
• A worker cooperative can produce goods that are distributed through a consumer cooperative, creating synergy within the cooperative movement and fostering economic growth, social development, and environmental sustainability. This approach emphasizes the importance of literacy and knowledge-building around data usage and stewardship, empowering members to manage their own data effectively.
• Additionally, South-to-South collaborations are essential in addressing power imbalances with Global North Big Tech companies, promoting equitable development and technological sovereignty.

Learning Journey

Participants will be transformed by the conference:

• Co-op leaders and members involved in legacy cooperatives will shift their perception, recognizing the potential of digital transformation to scale their cooperatives. 
• Policymakers, legal scholars and various public officials, will gain understanding of legal barriers hindering cooperative scalability in the digital space. 
• Technology enthusiasts, from social enterprise entrepreneurs to developers, will integrate ethical practices into their businesses, aligning with their vision for positive social impact. Researchers will expand their understanding of digital platform capitalism and actively contribute to a global research community, fostering collaborative endeavors and advancing insights into this evolving landscape.

Outcomes

Through engaging sessions and discussions, the conference aims to raise awareness about alternative models within the platform economy, establish a pan-African network of practitioners and policymakers, produce insightful video interviews, publish a special issue in an academic journal, and develop a policy paper addressing African-specific challenges.

Session Formats

Immerse yourself in a diverse array of session formats designed to engage and inspire. Participants can expect a lively array of short “lighting talks,” case studies, storytelling sessions, interactive workshops, participant-driven “unconferences,” and thought-provoking academic and artistic contributions.

Conveners

“Digital Africa Rising” is a collaboration between the Platform Cooperativism Consortium at The New School and The Co-operative University of Kenya in partnership with key stakeholders in Kenya’s cooperative movement led by the Ministry of Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development, ICA Africa, ILO, Cooperation Africa, and the Fairwork Foundation.

The conference prioritizes gender balance and youth engagement, highlighting the crucial roles of women, youth, and all stakeholders in crafting equitable collective digital futures.