God created us from a single pair of male and female, into nations, colours, races and tribes so that we may cherish and differentiate one another. In His Mercy and Wisdom, He gives us diversity to test our capacity for friendship and accentuates the need for unity and self-esteem. The days of ignorance were the days of feuds and falsehood attitude of trying to forget these differences rather than understand them


   

AREWA CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE

The purpose of Arewa Center for Excellence is to delineate, nurture and enhance northern Nigeria’s regional economic ecosystems and regional innovation clusters. It is doing so by investing in six major opportunities. A center of excellence (COE) brings together people from different disciplines and provides shared facilities/resources. It is sometimes called a “competency center” or “capability center” in academia.

 

Because COEs are designed to drive innovation and improvement, they also create an organizational structure that encourages the different members to measure, experiment, and push each other forward. By promoting more transparency and more shared results, they can be a powerful way for the organization to align around business goals, rather than individual departmental metrics.


       
 

 Develop Cutting-Edge Online Data Tools

The Center is focusing on developing its Regional Decision Maker (RDM) data-driven platform. RDM will be designed to help Arewa identify regional innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization opportunities. ACRD is working in partnership to develop this dynamic and powerful decision-making tool. Plans are underway to develop map layers that will show geographic clustering for industry and occupation clusters via the use of spatial statistical techniques. When fully launched, RDM will provide a set of value-added data layers and customized tools for use in supporting the entire Arewa regional planning.

2. Engage Key Target Groups in Using and Refining RDM Tools

RDM represents a powerful tool for mapping regional assets and opportunities. But, ensuring that these tools are seen as a valuable, practical and user-friendly tool for guiding decision-making by State leaders in northern region is equally important. As such, the ACRD is seeking to enhance the skills of individuals and groups that want to utilize the RDM. Activities being planned include:

  • Website Development & Launch,

  • Webinars and Face-to-Face Training, and

  • Technical Support. Collectively, these important activities are intended to help the Center strengthen the relevance and utility of the RDM to key stakeholders.

3. Produce a Comprehensive Arewa Region Economic Profile and Other Informational Resources

To maximize the value of the RDM to a wider array of people and organizations, ACRD will develop a series of user-friendly Economic Profiles that offer Arewa region attractive document that can guide the region's economic development plans and activities. In this regard, our Center will partner both States and Local Government to develop Information Briefs that are intended to provide local economic development outlook, timely information on a variety of local and State demographic, socioeconomic, education, economic and workforce development. The briefs will be couple of flyer-pages to include visually effective graphs, charts and/or tables, and be written for lay audiences. ACRD will create peer group regional development program to be called Leading Edge Practices (LEEP), a navigational tool designed to assist States in the region in learning from one another, leading to new strategies for accelerating innovation and collaboration.

4. Implement Programs that Build on Regional Opportunities

Introducing innovative programs that complement and add value to all States within the Arewa region’s industry and occupational clusters.

 

5. Strengthen Arewa Regional Collaboration and Innovation Networks

The mainstay of the ACRD Center of Excellence’s collaboration work centers on its Strategic Doing initiative. This program will focus on the use of States within the regional networks to accelerate innovation, partnership and collaboration. Strategic Doing quickly develops sophisticated collaborations that help advance open innovation across organizational and political boundaries within the entire region. Strategic Doing ignites the spark of regional innovation, partnership and collaboration enabling people in loosely-joined, open networks to think and act strategically. In partnership with Small Business Development Center’s across the World, this program showcases the pivotal role of second-stage firms to employment growth and prosperity and development growth strategies, with the goal of making Arewa region an investment destination.

6. Building Capacity of Local and State Governments to effectively Address Economic and Environmental issues

The mainstay of the ACRD environmental considerations in the overall policy-making, planning, and development process at local and regional level are:

  • Building capacity of local and States governments within the region to effectively address specific environmental issues, concerns, and strategic measures in areas like agriculture, transport, waste management, and freshwater availability that have significant relevance and implications in the context of sustainable regional development;

  • Responding to emerging issues of concern, such as climate change and human health impacts; and

  • Fostering community-based natural resource/environment management to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

“Given the emergence of new regional dynamics in development policy and practice, Arewa region MUST fine-tune current regional development perspectives and to develop new ones that are not only more in sync with the present and future global context but with the governance systems being currently adopted that are becoming more and more decentralized and grassroots oriented. States Governors within the Arewa region must come together to create and adopt the Arewa Regional Economic Plan with emphasis on a balanced approach to development and opportunity for all diversity irrespective of one’s tribe, social class, religious belief and even political affiliation; and establish targets for economic growth of the entire region taking advantage of our Demographic Shifts, which will fuel the growth of new sectors, markets, and service lines in our communities. The ability of our diversity to build strength and unity is the power that will propel the region and consequently, the Nigerian industry, into new dimensions of performance and inclusive growth. Catalyzing Inclusive Growth Through ICT-enabled solutions in healthcare, education, financial services and public services can drive socio-economic development and inclusion of more than 30 million citizens each year, faster, cheaper and more effectively than traditional models. The economic plan should be built on current regional opportunities, collaboration and innovation linking States macroeconomic models with regional development and economic plan termed: Regional Econometric Model”President ACRD 


 

 

 

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