Coop360 Innovations Awards

Welcome to the inaugural Coop360° Innovations Awards, powered by the Uhuru Institute for Social Development (TUI) in collaboration with the Bank of Uganda, Liberty Assurance, NTV Uganda, Goldstone Consulting, Busara Centre for Behavioural Economics amongst others.

The Coop360° Network Innovations Award is a prestigious award which identifies, documents, evaluates, amplifies and rewards cooperatives which have improvised and adapted solutions that will enhance membership value, stabilise and leapfrog their businesses and communities towards competitiveness and sustainable resilience under the theme Cultivate, Invent, Impact.

Objectives of the award

● To cultivate and nudge the appreciation and application of the cooperative identity, competitiveness and sustainable resilience in all cooperative initiatives.
● To reward innovation and competitiveness as drivers of cooperative-powered sustainable development.
● To enable and grow Business to Business linkages amongst the cooperatives, TUI, partners and the business community

Meaning of Keywords

Innovation:

A new method, idea, product, service intended to solve an existing problem, or improve the performance of a product or service e.g., mobile money innovations have increased access to affordable finance or locally produced organic fertilisers is ensuring marketability of farmer products, improve yields and earnings as well as preserving health.

Competitiveness:

Doing business in ways that make you stand out from others hence giving you a chance for better market and incomes.

Climate Smart:

Doing business whether in construction, mining, agricultural production, energy, publishing etc in a manner that adapts to changing tides, mitigates risk, and cultivates positive environmental outcomes.

Member Value:

The sum of all individual perceived benefits to members of a cooperative due to their membership e.g. access to affordable credit, training and capacity building, networking and exposure spaces, entertainment and sports facilities etc

Member patronage:

The act of doing business, supporting and being a part of all the business and non-business activities of the cooperative.

This year’s award targets to impact cooperatives across Uganda with existing innovations in the following thematic areas:
● Cooperative Member Development for Improved Quality of Life: For a cooperative to succeed, it ought to enable members to meet their welfare needs including but not limited to healthcare, housing, psychosocial support, entertainment and sports amongst others.
● Climate Smart Cooperative Business Models for Development: The growing climate crisis world over requires that every cooperative designs and adopts business models that address production, hygiene, construction and environmental conservation needs for a sustainably resilient future.
● Leveraging Science and Technology for Business Efficiency and Competitiveness: In the world of business today, efficiency and sustainability demand that science and technology in communications, production, manufacturing, marketing increases productivity, incomes, simplifies work and improves the quality of life of the businesspersons.
● Marketing and Communications: The art of telling your business and members’ story through branding, adverts, aggressive sales, is at the centre of every successful business model. This is a must have for every cooperative if there is to be collaboration, market acquisition and expansion, customer relationship management and a great public relation.

We are therefore inviting all cooperatives that have innovations in any of the above areas to submit their interest for consideration.

Applicants must show clearly how their win will help enhance their existing innovation.

The Award Prizes

20M – Overall Winner

● Tourist weekend for 15 persons in support of promoting local tourism in Uganda.
● Mentorship and coaching for 3 months.

10M – First Runner Up

● ICT appliances, i.e., computers, printers, and routers, valued at UGX 5,000,000 each.
● Mentorship and coaching for 3 months.

5M – Second Runner Up

● Mentorship and coaching for 3 months.

Who Qualifies?

All cooperatives with:
a) A valid registration certificate from the Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives.
b) Evidence that the cooperative has held the AGM for the last financial year.
c) Existence of a fully functional board, supervisory, and vetting committees.
d) Institutional capital size of at least UGX 10 million.
e) Evidence of making at least UGX 20 million in annual turnover in the previous year.
f) Commitment by the board and management to fully participate in the Innovations awards.

Cooperative Cluster Classification

Turnover Per Annum (UGX)
a) Small (20 – 100 million)
b) Medium (100 – 360 million)
c) Large (361 million) – above

Where does one find the application documents?

Online at www.uhuruinstitute.org/innovations-awards or coop360network.com/innovations-awards, then Apply to participate in the Innovation Awards.

How to Submit:

Email to: uhuru@uhuruinstitute.org

Deadline for Submission:

Deadline date – November 24, 2023

Need more help?

Email: coop360memberservices@uhuruinstitute.org, uhuru@uhuruinstitute.org or call; Mary on 0 759 009748 or Evelyn on +256 752 859575