Abstract:

Cooperatives are businesses known to contain a social component, rooted in the cooperative principles and values. Cooperatives have been in existence for centuries, and have had a strong impact on the development of socio-economic. Tense however has been circulated worldwide in the dire need of improving the role and contribution of cooperatives to the national economic development especially after the announcement of Year 2012 as ‘International Year of Cooperatives’. Governance which is associated with the concept of management and regulation is seen as a mechanism in strengthening the cooperatives. As governance has been used in the private and public sectors as key indicator of success, it may be relevant to the cooperatives. This paper therefore aims to highlight the issues and challenges faced by cooperative organisations worldwide and wish to suggest that cooperatives will need to embark on governance in order to be successful in the dynamic environment. Cooperative governance should inspires confidence, elevates the status and reputation of cooperatives as solid and unique business entities and enables them to be viewed as a robust long-term approach to building competiveness enterprises and economies.