The Co-operative University of Kenya

The co-operative university of Kenya is a leading center for quality cooperative education, training, research, and consultancy. It was chartered as a public institution in 2016. Long before that, the college played a vital role in training and cultivating the co-operative movement in Kenya and other African countries. The first form of what eventually became the university started in 1952, during British colonial rule. Until 1964, it was known as the East African School of Co-operation, serving Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. As the three countries gained independence, each established their own cooperative colleges. The Co-operative College of Kenya was officially established in 1967. It was a semi-autonomous government agency under the Ministry of Co-operative Development and Marketing. In 2011, it became the Co-operative University College of Kenya, a constituent college of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, before transitioning into an independent institution in 2016.

The cooperative movement in Kenya has a long history. In 1908, the first cooperative society in Kenya was founded by the colonial government. Colonial cooperatives were white-only, sidelining Africans from the mainstream economy. This remained largely unchanged during the struggle for independence.

Currently, the cooperative economy in Kenya accounts for about half of the country’s GDP, with … half of Kenyans generating their livelihood through cooperatives.

When Kenya finally gained independence from British colonial rule in 1963, cooperatives became a central element in the post-colonial development plan, which saw the enactment of the first national cooperative policy in 1966. This led to the formation of the Co-operative College of Kenya to promote good management practices in cooperatives. It began in Nairobi with 40 students before the construction of the present campus in Karen, outside Nairobi proper. On June 18, 1970, the first president of the Republic of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, laid the foundation stone of the new college. President Kenyatta stressed in his remarks at the ceremony that “education and training are the surest road to overall efficiency in the business activities of the cooperative movement.”

With an increased need for cooperative education, the college continued to grow through the 1970s and ’80s. It expanded its role as a national institute for the training of staff for cooperative societies and unions, as well as for government officers who help to supervise cooperatives through the Ministry of Co-operative Development. Currently, the cooperative economy in Kenya accounts for about half of the country’s GDP, with significant numbers of cooperatives across every sector of the economy and half of Kenyans generating their livelihood through cooperatives. About 30 percent of cooperatives are agricultural; more than half are savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) that provide some of the only financial services in rural areas.

Compared to conventional business schools, studying at the Co-operative University of Kenya stands out; every student who joins the university for any degree program must study a unit or two in cooperative philosophy. The institution is also known to be the only college in Kenya with a savings and credit cooperative society that is fully owned and operated by students.

In 2005, the college launched its first degree program in collaboration with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. In 2012, the college established what would become its two foundational degree programs: a bachelor’s in cooperative business and a bachelor’s in commerce.

Between 2011 and 2016, the institution formed strategic linkages and networks of exchange with cooperative higher-education institutions around the world, including in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Spain. The university college also entered into memoranda of understanding with Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, and Ethiopia, and it has continuously provided their cooperative sectors with technical support and staff training.

When the Co-operative University of Kenya was formally established in 2016 by Uhuru Kenyatta, it became the first university in the world entirely devoted to the cooperative movement. Today, it offers 14 degree programs, including a number at master’s level, and has over 150 faculty members. It serves about 7,000 students, both on campus and through a robust online-learning model. Currently, as the university grows, it houses three schools: the School of Co-operatives and Community Development, the School of Business and Economics, and the School of Computing and Mathematics. The university’s growth reflects how cooperative education can encompass all aspects of economic life.