Cooperative Collective Action and Youth Livelihood Sustainability in Nigeria’s Informal Telecommunications Sector

Across sub-Saharan Africa, youth unemployment and economic precarity remain critical structural crises, thereby forcing urban youths to rely heavily on informal digital economies for survival. While GSM phone sales and repair hubs have emerged as vital employment hubs in Nigerian cities, these micro-enterprises operate within severe institutional voids characterized by credit deserts and high operational vulnerabilities. This study evaluates how cooperative collective action functions as a strategic institutional bypass to foster livelihood sustainability among young operators. Utilizing a quantitative cross-sectional survey design, primary data were gathered from 180 valid youth operators across major commercial GSM clusters in Ibadan, Nigeria, and analyzed via Multiple Regression Analysis and independent sample t-tests. The empirical results demonstrate that cooperative collective action structurally predicts long-term livelihood sustainability, accounting for 59.4% of the total variance (R2 = .594, p < .05). Access to cooperative finance emerged as the most powerful determinant (β = .382), followed closely by formalized social support systems (β = .315) and collective resource sharing (β = .242). Furthermore, comparative analysis reveals a significant resilience gap, with cooperative members exhibiting substantially higher business continuity and asset accumulation capabilities than non-members. These findings expand the empirical boundaries of institutional resource pooling theories beyond traditional agricultural settings into the digital informal sector. Ultimately, this research offers crucial insights for development planners and urban policymakers seeking to transition youth empowerment initiatives from short-term survivalist interventions toward scalable, structurally resilient solidarity economies.

cooperative collective action, youth livelihood sustainability, social capital, informal economy, GSM enterprises, Nigeria, cooperative finance.

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