Chairman Musa Bello Abdullahi is the CEO at AMA Investment & Infrastructure Holdings and a philanthropist.

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Publications    Collaborative Leadership   Regional Development

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Today, as captured by KadInvest, innovation has become a key distinct feature that can define long-term business success, which in turn leads to economic growth and consequent job creation. Fostering innovation has however often been the privilege of wealthy nations, given the high R&D costs associated with it and the investments in human capital required to succeed in this undertaking.

Innovation in Africa however, has paradoxically existed despite a prevailing developmental environment plagued by deficits in skills, technologies and infrastructure. Innovation on the continent stems from the urgent need to find immediate and sustainable solutions for critical problems Africa has been facing, which threatens to hinder its next phase of development, if not handled appropriately. It also relies on Africa’s extensive supply of ideas, which emanates from the minds of its own people. With the fastest growing population on earth, Africa has more human capital potential than anywhere else on earth. Increasingly well-educated African youths have the motivation and potential to think of suitable African solutions to widespread African problems. Entrepreneurship also plays a major role and according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, among the 10 countries with the highest number of start-ups in the entire world, five are African. Innovators on the continent are clearly living in a new era of opportunity where there is an enormous need for innovation.

A major component of the current administration’s Restoration mandate is creating jobs and building a prosperous society for all. In line with this, Kaduna State Government has demonstrated its unwavering commitment towards developing its human capital, infrastructure, policies and reforming the business environment to foster innovation and facilitate the easy inflow of investments into the State. These reforms and projects – combined with Kaduna’s natural potential, teaming youthful population, and the solid pedestal of committed and visionary leadership – have clearly precipitated remarkable progress. Even more satisfying is the fact that according to the World Bank, Kaduna is now the overall best State in Nigeria to do business in. (Abdin, 2019). If Kaduna can develop an integrated innovation ecosystem, it stands to supercharge its economy, its society and the livelihoods of millions in the State.

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