African View/ September 19, 2025
On the International Day of South-South Solidarity, the Global Solidarity Talks program brought together experts, researchers, and activists to highlight the power of cooperatives in reshaping economies and societies across the Global South.
The cultural salon, titled “Cooperatives in the Global South,” was held under the United Nations’ 2025 theme “Cooperatives: The United Voice of the Global South for a Sustainable Future.” The gathering underscored the role of cooperatives not just as economic models, but as human-centered systems rooted in solidarity, dignity, and shared responsibility.
Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Hakim Ibrahim, Chairman of the Social and Cooperative Economy Network for the Middle East and North Africa, opened the discussion with a central question: “Why do we need cooperatives?”
He explained that development must go beyond profit margins to encompass culture, education, and social progress. “The social and cooperative economy is about the humanization of economics,” Dr. Ibrahim said, stressing that this model focuses on meeting human and environmental needs rather than maximizing profit.
He also reminded participants that cooperatives were born as a direct response to the inequalities of the Industrial Revolution, offering collective ownership and democratic governance as alternatives to exploitative capitalist systems.
Dr. Mohamed Sayaf, Senior Researcher at the Agricultural Economics Research Institute, highlighted Egypt’s long-standing cooperative traditions. “Agricultural cooperatives alone have benefited nearly 12.5 million people,” he noted, adding that similar models across Africa and Asia have played key roles in food security, job creation, and social inclusion.
Sayaf recalled Tanzania’s cooperative-led development in the 1960s and 70s as a historic example of how Global South nations adapted the model to reduce dependency on colonial economic systems.
While economic cooperatives have a long history, participants stressed that solidarity must also extend into the media. Communication expert Dr. Sally Saad called for the creation of media cooperatives among Global South countries, describing them as “the unified voice of the Global South.”
“We need platforms that reflect our communities and amplify our stories without distortion or external influence,” Dr. Saad said. She pointed to the African Climate Journalists Network (ACJN) as a successful model of media cooperation that amplifies underreported issues like climate change.
Researcher and Global Solidarity Network founder Hassan Ghazaly emphasized that the network has been building cooperative-inspired initiatives since 2012. These include projects like Afro-Media, the Global South Solidarity School, and regional programs around the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and Nile Basin cooperation.
For Ghazaly, the message is clear: “Our work is about consolidating the values of solidarity in all its forms.”
As the event closed, participants honored Dr. Ibrahim for his contributions and reaffirmed their call to expand cooperatives ranging from agriculture and housing to media and culture.
The discussions sent a strong message: in a world facing inequality, climate change, and external economic pressures, cooperatives remain a sustainable path for communities in the Global South to thrive hand in hand.
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