Gapi has been expanding its activities across borders since 2021, providing training for trainers and managers of agri-livestock cooperatives in Angola in management, marketing and market connections, among other subjects.

The action takes place in a joint initiative with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The Chairman of Gapi's Executive Committee, Adolfo Muholove, who is the main trainer with more than 20 years' experience of training trainers, believes that "the success of our previous actions, combined with the results of the work carried out over the last 33 years, has earned us the attention and recognition of national and international bodies, which is why we have been entrusted with this mission".

The source also said that "our integrated intervention methodology, in which we combine Financial Services, Consulting Services and Training in Business Management and Institutional Development Services, allows us to contribute to supporting the emergence and/or strengthening of institutions such as cooperatives".

Juliana de Castro, an ILO trainer based in Italy, praised the role of her own organization and of Gapi, for the success it has achieved and which has allowed the FAO to trust it again and again:

"The fact that we have been entrusted to conduct these trainings since 2021 is a reflection of the satisfactory results that have been seen in the management and consequent growth of rural cooperatives in Angola."

This training was given with the aim of supporting the Agroprodeza project, which is a project to accelerate inclusive and sustainable investments in agribusiness in Angola's economic growth corridors.

Since 2021, around 150 participants from four provinces, representing 30 different cooperatives, have benefited from these trainings.

Francisco Souto, Gapi's main advisor and guest at the closing session, highlighted the role that cooperatives should play, not only from an economic business point of view, but above all from a social point of view.

In this conversation with cooperativists from Bengo and Luanda, Souto, as one of the founders and the first PCA of Gapi, highlighted this institution's experience in setting up cooperatives and - at the beginning of the 1990s - its dynamic role in establishing the General Union of Cooperatives, an association with hundreds of cooperatives, most of them based in the green belt of Maputo city.

Speaking on behalf of the participants, André Neto said that "this action was very important, especially because this time fishing cooperatives were included which, together with agriculture, are very crucial areas for local development in Angola.

Therefore, the exchange of experiences was crucial, because it allowed us to pool our knowledge and opportunities in the various areas," he said, and then launched a challenge to Gapi "to extend this vision and methodology of action so that we can create a Gapi in Angola".

It was clear from the participants' speeches that the training lived up to expectations, given that the dynamics introduced in this process were studied in detail and the learning was not only in the content introduced in the classroom, but above all in the practical lessons.

Mycoop is a tool developed by the ILO, FAO and technical partners such as universities around the world. It adapts to the context of Africa and Angola in particular and collects a lot of know-how to enrich it and contributes many aspects to the development of cooperatives.

It should be noted that in addition to the MyCoop training program aimed at training managers of agricultural cooperatives, Gapi has other training programs for proto-entrepreneurs and managers of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that can be customized for each circumstance and socio-economic reality.

It also has specific programs for training young people and women entrepreneurs in various economic sectors.