Webinar launches second phase of Legal Framework Analysis for cooperatives
The LFA is a harmonised research and analysis initiative that examines the state of cooperative legislation worldwide
LONDON, March 10, 2026 — The International Cooperative Alliance [ICA] Global Office, ICA Africa, Cooperativas de las Américas, ICA Asia-Pacific and Cooperatives Europe have officially launched the second phase of the Legal Framework Analysis [LFA] for cooperatives during a public webinar held recently.
The LFA is a harmonised research and analysis initiative that examines the state of cooperative legislation worldwide. It is being implemented across all ICA regions as part of an activity co-funded under the ICA–EU Partnership, #coops4dev.
The first phase of the initiative, conducted between 2016 and 2021, produced 79 national reports and four regional reports. The second phase aims to further strengthen the mapping and analysis of cooperative legal environments across regions, identifying strengths, gaps and areas that require reform. The research will be supported by analysts Melvin Khabenje, Paula Arzadu, Naveen Kumar Singh and Paola Rosatelli.
Participants at the webinar heard several presentations, including from Alphonce Mbuya of the Department of Law at Moshi Co-operative University in Tanzania, who also chairs the ICA-Africa Cooperative Law Committee. He said his team gathered information from 18 countries, with overregulation emerging as a common challenge.
According to Mbuya, the key issue is finding the right balance between cooperative autonomy and necessary oversight. He also presented a case study on the African Union’s Cooperative Model Law, which has been adopted as a continental guide for cooperative legislation, and discussed the legacy of colonial legal systems and the question of cooperative independence.
Also speaking were Sergio Reyes, Professor of Social Economy and Cooperativism at the University of the Republic in Uruguay [Cooperativas de las Américas], and Upali Herath, Chair of the National Institute of Cooperative Development in Sri Lanka. They provided an update on progress in the ICA Asia-Pacific region, describing the legal landscape as complex.
Herath explained that, on the one hand, cooperation is increasingly being linked to the broader concept of the social and solidarity economy. On the other hand, the colonial legacy of cooperatives following the British registrar system continues to shape the sector. He noted that this dynamic is unfolding against the backdrop of neoliberal economic policies, which he said are diluting cooperative systems.
“We have to see if the law is adequate enough to handle these situations,” he added.
David Hiez, Professor of Civil Law at the University of Luxembourg and a member of the ICA Cooperative Law Committee, noted that cooperative law is often oversimplified.
“Cooperative law is too often reduced to two or three rules repeated ad nauseam, neglecting the fact that it is a very complex and technical body of law,” he said. “All the reports that have been produced do indeed help to improve this understanding.”
A less positive perspective was shared from Ecuador, where Veronica Morales of Coop Riobamba discussed the government’s attempt last year to force the demutualisation of some financial cooperatives. The move was halted following protests from the cooperative movement.
However, Morales said that in October a new reform introduced the possibility for cooperatives to convert into banks on a voluntary basis.
She said cooperative leaders are “worried about how to establish the guidelines for this”, but maintained that “true cooperatives will continue to be cooperatives”. She also thanked the ICA for its solidarity and “human support” during the dispute.
Closing remarks were delivered by José Manuel Capitán, an economist at the European Commission, and Professor Hagan Henry, Chair of the ICA Global Cooperative Law Committee.
Capitán emphasised the role of cooperatives in advancing global priorities such as sustainable development, the social economy and decent work.
He said the LFA “is really important because one of the things that cooperatives need to fulfil their mission is to have an adequate legal and regulatory environment”.
Professor Henry observed that knowledge of cooperative law has declined over the past five decades.
“This facilitated the alignment of the legal structural features of cooperatives with those of capital-centred enterprises,” he said, “disregarding that more than one billion cooperators around the world do not want to meet their economic, social and cultural needs in a way that they cannot identify with.”
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