Membership

Afrika Diaspora Co-operative is registered by Fair Trading NSW as a co-operative in New South Wales, Australia and incorporated under the Co-operatives National Law (NSW). Further, ADC is a registered, active member of The Co-operative Federation of Australia.

Corporate membership is available for legally registered welfare societies, companies or organisations. The same process of membership application as an individual, applies.

Afrika Diaspora Co-operative is managed by a board of seven (7) directors, headed by a President, who chairs its meetings. Among the founder committee, we have a corporate governance consultant.

We cannot advise on individual tax matters; for this we recommend that you seek independent tax advice. However, from a legal-tax perspective, a co-operative is an efficient vehicle for members with a common goal seeking to advance their socio-economic wellbeing.

Yes, existing shareholders can and should help spread the good word for Afrika Diaspora Co-operative; however there is no monetary benefit. The real benefit however, is that you will have helped friends and further deepened the community networks.

Australia has one of the most stringent co-operative and financial regulatory structures in the World; therefore, registering ADC in Australia is a testament to the level of competency and confidence that members can expect from the board managing their assets. Importantly, ADC incorporates a team of highly qualified investment advisers who analyse every investment decision before it’s undertaken. ADC also has a corporate governance consultant, who’s a member of the founders committee.

Afrika Diaspora Co-operative’s investment strategy is informed by independent research and a team of highly qualified analysts. ADC seeks to invest in projects in which it has full understanding of the core fundamentals, as well as their future capacity to deliver long-term shareholder value i.e., return on investment, in a socio-economic and environmentally sustainable manner.

Afrika Diaspora Co-operative will invest anywhere safe and appropriate in the world, including Afrika. Importantly, as an Australian-born entity, it must begin here at home. The only caveat for any project under consideration is that it must pass, as a minimum, our stringent investment assessment and fall within ADC’s Risk Management Framework.

Our current focus is to aggregate capital and organically grow our portfolio. The option to select where individual member funds are invested is therefore currently unavailable, but may be considered in the future.

There is future potential of limited dividends and bonus shares when Afrika Diaspora Co-operative is able to and decides to distribute surplus profits to its members. Paying dividends is a long-term objective of ADC. In the short-term, ADC will re-invest any surpluses earned to create a sustainable capital base in line with its vision as a long-term investment vehicle. As and when dividends are paid, members will have an option for cash, which they could use to buy more shares.

It is important that all members have a written Will or have a nominated beneficiary. The shares of a member who ceases to be a member or whose membership is cancelled due to inactivity must also be cancelled and repaid subject to any terms of issue of those shares and less any amounts owing by the member to the co-operative. The Co-operative National Law provides rules for the repayment of shares of cancelled members as well as resigning or expelled members, including the substitution of securities for those shares. Please familiarise yourself with the PDS and Membership Rules.