Cooperatives represent nearly half of Kenya’s GDP, and many Kenyans rely on co-ops for their livelihoods, financial services, and social safety net. Platform economies have also taken root there, from on-demand services familiar in the U.S. and Europe to innovations like the M-PESA mobile payment and micro-finance system. Can Kenya’s experience help lead the way to the cooperative movement of the future? Can global solidarity disrupt the Silicon Valley-centric shape of the tech sector today? This conversation will explore lessons in cooperation from East Africa, as well as strategies for ensuring that platform cooperativism brings about a more inclusive online economy than the one that currently prevails.
