Centre LSD Hosts Strategic Leadership & Cooperative Management Training for WIFE Coordinators
The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) is set to host a specialized capacity building training for coordinators of its Women in Frontline Extractive Communities (WIFE) cooperatives. The training which will take place in Benin City from September 21 to 26 2025, is designed to equip participants with the strategic leadership and cooperative management skills needed to successfully run a new community-owned cooperative model recently introduced by the Centre.
This intensive training follows the successful implementation of livelihood support workshops held earlier in Uyo and Warri in July and August 2025, which brought together over 60 women leaders from Nigeria’s extractive host communities. The new training session in Benin City will focus specifically on women selected as WIFE Cooperative Coordinators representatives who emerged from the previous training phases and have been appointed to lead cooperative clusters in their respective communities.
The cooperative model we’re pioneering is built to run sustainably without putting the burden of interest on members. It focuses on marginalized groups women, persons with disabilities, and survivors of gender-based violence in frontline oil, gas, and solid minerals communities. The model is designed to graduate them out of poverty in a revolving way that can spread across several communities and even entire LGAs. Through the cooperative, the Centre looks forward to working with other stakeholders to introduce interventions that truly empower.
Drawn from all 10 states in the Niger Delta, the selected coordinators will receive targeted training on Strategic and inclusive leadership, Cooperative governance and transparency, Savings and loan management, Conflict resolution within cooperatives, Â Member mobilization and engagement, and financial literacy and sustainability models.
At the heart of the WIFE cooperative model is a rotating fund mechanism that allows women to access interest-free, backed by a community-driven governance system. Members also benefit from savings schemes and capacity-building support to launch or scale microenterprises.
The upcoming training underscores Centre LSD’s commitment to gender justice, economic inclusion, and sustainable livelihoods in communities most affected by the environmental and social impacts of extractive industries.
