A Multi-Level Analysis of the Determinants of Cooperative Sector Vitality in Sub-Saharan Africa with Application to Nigeria

Cooperative sector vitality, defined as the combination of financial health, membership growth, governance quality, and social impact, varies substantially across countries and regions of sub-Saharan Africa in ways that reflect both structural and policy-driven determinants. A multi-level analysis framework that simultaneously captures individual cooperative, state-level, and national-level influences on sector vitality has not been developed for the Nigerian context. This study developed and applied an original multi-level analysis of the determinants of cooperative sector vitality in sub-Saharan Africa, with primary application to Nigeria. A multi-level modelling methodology was employed, using three-level hierarchical linear models to analyse data from 800 cooperatives nested within 40 Nigerian states and compared with cooperative sector data from 18 sub-Saharan African countries at the national level. Vitality was operationalised using the Nigerian Cooperative Sector Development Index developed as part of an earlier phase of this research programme. Cooperative-level predictors included governance quality, capital adequacy, cooperative type, and membership size. State-level predictors included agricultural sector share, cooperative department budget, and state financial inclusion index. National-level predictors included GDP per capita, cooperative law quality, and national agricultural policy environment. Results across the three levels showed that state-level cooperative department budget had the largest cross-level effect on individual cooperative vitality (gamma = 0.51; p < 0.001), exceeding the effect of all cooperative-level predictors. National cooperative law quality was the strongest national-level predictor (gamma = 0.43; p < 0.001). The study constitutes an original multi-level analytical contribution to comparative cooperative development research. Keywords: cooperative vitality, multi-level analysis, sub-Saharan Africa, hierarchical linear modelling, comparative cooperative development