There are different kinds of cooperatives, and the examples below seek to provide an insight to some of the more common cooperative models. Where possible the examples are either based in the global south, African countries or are run by people of African descent across the world. Such is the case, for example, with Kuapa Kokoo based in Ghana, or the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Cooperative Home Care Associates, and Cooperation Jackson, all in the USA.

• Procurement Coops – Cooperatives owned and democratically managed by members who ‘buy’ together
• Marketing Coops – Cooperatives owned and democratically managed by members who ‘sell’ together
• Supplier Coops – Cooperatives owned and democratically managed by members who ‘provide capital and patronage’ together
• Consumer Coops – Cooperatives owned and democratically managed by members who ‘consume’ together, such as housing, finance through credit unions, or retail goods
• Worker Coops – Cooperatives owned and democratically managed by members who ‘work’ together as co-workers
• Cooperative regions: Emilia Romagna – Italy is one of the regions of the world with the heaviest concentration of cooperatives, working together in dynamic networks assembled for a particular task. 30% of the regions GDP comes from cooperatives, mostly worker cooperatives.