ÓKÓBÌ collective entrepreneurship program operates in Nigeria’s Imo State
In Imo State in southeastern Nigeria, the ÓKÓBÌ — One Kindred One Business Initiative — operates, providing support for collectively owned businesses. Extended families, rural communities or student associations can choose an area of activity, register an enterprise and jointly own it.
As Premium Times Nigeria writes, to participate, an enterprise must be officially registered, owned by a group, profitable, professionally managed, have proper governance and create jobs.
Program data and grants
The Office of the Chief Economic Adviser of Imo State reported that, as of December 2025, 461 businesses with 19,676 active participants had been registered under ÓKÓBÌ across all 27 local government areas of the state. Column author Akm Boby cautioned that these figures are published by the program itself and should therefore be assessed carefully.
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The column also states that the ÓKÓBÌ model was published by the London School of Economics, and that the program has a partnership with Nigeria’s Bank of Industry to provide grants to registered groups. According to the author’s description, group ownership is intended to reduce the risk of start-up funds being misused, as all participants have an interest in the outcome of the joint business.
Student track
The ÓKÓBÌ Students Club operates in the state. The program includes three training modules and a practical stage during which students form groups, present ideas, test them and launch businesses. According to the description in the column, the enterprises created can continue operating after their founders graduate, while new groups of students will learn from the experience of previous ones.
The author proposes considering the Nigerian model as a possible example for Bangladesh in the development of artificial intelligence. Among possible areas for student groups, he names the collection and annotation of language data, process automation for small and medium-sized businesses, Bengali-language educational agents, diagnosis of crop diseases from photographs, and defect detection in garment manufacturing.
