Refined Economic Development (RED) in Africa is a concept developed by Economic Growth and Development Center (EGDC) as a way of addressing the serious challenges of community decline, environmental neglect, unemployment, poverty and poor inclusiveness in economic growth and development across Africa.
In the end, national economic growth and development depend on the success of the individuals, businesses and institutions of the community. Nations are an aggregation of communities, therefore strong nations are built from competitive communities. Consequently, much effort must start with states, provinces, districts, cities and communities if Africa is to continue to rise.
RED-in-Africa is principally about using innovation to build competitive and resilient communities and nations. It employs collaboration among entrepreneurs, business professionals, academic researchers and policy practitioners to leverage global participation and partnerships for economic growth and development.
RED-in-Africa Pillar
As a unique economic development program, RED-in-Africa’s main pillar is a collaboration among policy leaders, the business community and academia to jointly seek global partnerships that assure mutual benefits and create platforms and networks to promote community development and therefore stronger national economic gains across Africa.
RED assumes that communities become more locally successful and globally competitive, regardless of geographic location, when they create, attractor network with strong global partners that promote innovative relationships and operations.
In RED, the community with its key pillars (policy practitioners, business investors and academic researchers) is the foundation for inclusive and sustainable national economic growth. RED is therefore about how to economically strengthen communities, enabling them to create sustainable opportunities for business growth, employment generation and a rising level of living.
RED-in-Africa and Human Capital Development
A critical objective of RED is to help communities to become involved in determining their own progress in human capital development where education, skills, health, business development, high-quality jobs and an enabling environment are promoted for the sake of achieving a high quality of life for the people.
EBS has developed a platform known as Phenomenal Africa (www.phenomenalafrica.com) to promote human capital development across Africa, realizing that human capital deficiency in Africa is the principal reason Africa generally lags the world in productivity and overall economic development. Phenomenal Africa, therefore, serves as a human capital development club for organizations that subscribe as members of RED-in-Africa.
Subscribing to RED-in-Africa and setting up a Phenomenal Africa Club will help students in schools & universities and staff in public and private organizations to expand their skill sets and knowledge base and become better public speakers in the area of economic development.
We consider human capital development to be the most important element for productivity growth, job performance and economic competitiveness. Public speaking, education, healthcare, wellness, attitudes, skills development and on-the-job training evaluation are critical elements of Phenomenal Africa.
For more on Phenomenal Africa’s potential contribution to increased personal value and social responsibility please see www.phenomenalafrica.com.
The RED-in-Africa Forums in Dallas, Texas
Two RED-in-Africa Forums in Dallas are hosted by the prestigious University of Texas at Dallas as follows:
The Annual RED-in-Africa Conference and Study Tours for business, academic and public sector leaders held each September is hosted by the Global Business Forum of the Naveen Jindal School of Management.
The Quarterly RED-in-Africa Workshops, Seminars and Study Tours for policy professionals and related leaders held each November, February, May and August is hosted by the Public and Non-Profit program of the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.
The RED-in-Africa Forums at the University of Texas at Dallas bring together entrepreneurs, business leaders, government officials and academic researchers to facilitate and promote trade, investment and the sharing of ideas in government policy and academic research between Africa and the United States.
African countries, provinces, states and municipalities looking to promote their economic diplomacy, secure markets, attract investors, fight poverty, exchange policy ideas and share academic research will find the forums to be extraordinary and invaluable.
About Dallas Texas
Dallas is the 9th largest city in the United States, by population. It is the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Dallas Forth Worth (DFW) metropolitan area is the largest in Texas and the fourth largest in the United States, behind Chicago, Los Angeles and New York at the top. The DFW metropolitan area population is the second fastest-growing in the United states, surpassed and only very marginally by the Houston Metropolitan area.
In 2014, MarketWatch declared the Dallas–Fort Worth metro as the most business-friendly in the United States. The DFW metro area headquarters well over 20 Fortune 500 companies, including Exxon Mobil, AT&T, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Texas Instruments, JCPenney Company, Kimberly Clark, etc. It also serves as the headquarters for scores of other national and international companies, such as Frito-lay, FedEx Office, GE Capital, Huawei, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Toyota Motors, North America, Neiman Marcus, Pizza Hut, 7 – Eleven, Rolex and many more.
The vibrant, dynamic and globally connected Dallas-Fort Worth area attracts students and faculty from all over the world to UTD.
Fun after Work
The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex offers one of the nation’s largest and best in shopping and entertainment venues. Area attractions include the Fort Worth Stockyards, the Dallas and Fort Worth zoos, Fair Park, the Dallas World Aquarium, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the Kimbell and Amon Carter museums and the Dallas Arts District. Major sports teams include the Dallas Cowboys and their $1.2 billion stadium, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Stars, the Texas Rangers and the FC Dallas soccer team. Dallas’s vibrant music scene covers the spectrum (rock, jazz, blues, country, classical) and more. And don’t miss Six Flags Over Texas, the mega entertainment thrill of Texas located just 15 miles west of Dallas.
Dallas For Partnerships with Africa
The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has major companies in sectors that can help spur economic development in Africa. These include agro-business and Foods, Banking, Construction, Education, Health and Healthcare, Housing & Real Estate, Manufacturing, Mining, Oil & Gas and Energy, Renewable Energy, Tourism & Hospitality, etc.
Although highly identified with the city of Dallas, the University of Texas at Dallas is actually located in the city of Richardson.
About Richardson Texas
As a suburb of Dallas, Richardson is an affluent and key city in the Dallas-Forth metropolitan area. Along with being home to the University of Texas at Dallas it has what is known a Telecom Corridor, with a high concentration of the world’s largest telecommunications/networking companies, including AT&T, Verizon, Cisco Systems, Samsung, ZTE, MetroPCS, Texas Instruments, Qorvo, and Fujitsu. In addition there are over 5,000 businesses with significant operations in the city of about 28 square miles (73 km2).
About the University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas is the host of the RED-in-Africa Forums in Dallas. It is a nimble high energy and innovative institution. UT Dallas offers top-ranked science, engineering and business programs and have gained prominence for a breadth of educational paths from audiology to arts and technology.
UT Dallas’ faculty includes a Nobel laureate, six members of the National Academies and more than 560 tenured and tenure-track professors. It has a modern and very beautiful campus, with more than 27,000 students. UT Dallas is one of the best research institutions in the United States.
The university has over 141 degree programs and offers an extended variety of interests for local and international students. The university attracts the brightest minds in science, math and engineering and boasts one of the top business schools in Texas.
- UTD ranks 1st nationally in the number of master’s degrees awarded in computer science.
- UTD ranks 4th in the country in the number of computer science degrees awarded to women.
- UTD was the first university in the U.S. to have an (ABET) accredited bachelor of science degree in telecommunications engineering.
- In fall 2001, UTD became one of only a handful of universities to offer a degree in software engineering.
- Times Higher Education ranks UT Dallas as #1 in the nation and #21 in the world among the top 200 universities under 50 years of age.
Who Can Attend the RED-in-Africa Forums
The September Annual RED-in-Africa Conference and Study Tours are open to any one interested in the economic development of Africa in partnership with institutions of the United States. Because the conference and tours include discussions on trade, investment, academic research and exchange of policy ideas, participants are likely to be government officials, business leaders, researchers, students and professionals in all fields of human endeavor.
The Quarterly Seminars, Workshops and Study Tours are generally for policy leaders and officials, including legislators and municipal officials, and people or organizations interested in policy implementation and economic development. Principal aims of this forum include the exchange of ideas and the development of business and economic partnerships.
Registration
Sign up here for the full package in each category.
Sign up here if you are a university student or live in the Dallas area and wish to attend only the Dinner or panel discussions.
