– The African Risk Capacity (ARC) and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences – Next Einstein Initiative (AIMS-NEI) held an inception meeting at ARC Agency Offices in Johannesburg as part of their framework agreement to work together towards promoting innovation and assisting AU Member States to better prepare for and respond to natural disasters and extreme weather events.
The objective of the meeting was to discuss, first hand, the feasibility of developing a certification programme, and implementing an internship programme and support to Research and Development which are components of activities contained in an already existing AIMS-NEI / ARC partnership agreement.
Earlier, in March 2018, the African Risk Capacity and the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences entered into a formal partnership agreement to foster innovation through scientific learning and problem solving aimed at helping African countries better respond to natural disasters and climate change.
Established in 2003, the AIMS-NEI, is a pan African network of Centres of Excellence for postgraduate training, research and public engagement in mathematical sciences that enables Africa’s brightest students to become problem solvers and innovators that propel scientific, educational and economic self-sufficiency.
Speaking at the meeting, the Director-General of African Risk Capacity, Mohamed Beavogui, paid tribute to the founders of the AIMS-NEI, and reaffirmed the resolve of African Union to pursue home-grown solutions for climate and other natural disaster problems facing the continent. He indicated that the Africa RiskView, the tool deployed by the ARC, is the leading tool for drought risk management on the continent. We are also going into flood modelling, outbreaks and epidemics and we need high-quality continuous research to develop the requisite insurance tools.
He said, “the intention of the African Union in establishing the African Risk Capacity is to protect its vulnerable population from the costly impacts of natural disaster risks. In addition to pooling financial resources, this requires scientific research and innovation to work. Our partnership with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences connects us with the continent’s top existing scientists and those in the making.”
To effectively deliver on its mission and stay abreast of cutting edge knowledge and best practices, ARC needs a progressive pool of African experts, as well as partnerships with other global actors, on risk modelling, actuarial sciences, insurance, disasters management, and pathogen modelling.
The AIMS-NEI has an extensive network of technical and professional expertise, know-how and facilities to conduct research and develop solutions that respond to industry objectives, including ARC’s goal to catalyse a better risk management system for Africa and provide the capacity building support required to implement such a system.
In his remarks, Mr. Moulaye CAMARA – Managing Director of Operations, AIMS-NEI Global Network, thanked the African Risk Capacity and its leadership for the innovative and trailblazing work they are doing towards helping Africa become weather risk and natural disaster resilient.
“Mathematical sciences, he said, underlies every modern technology and its application is found in every field. Considering that Africa, will be home to 40 per cent of the world’s youth (18 and under) by 2050, investing in mathematical sciences is critical to drive the continent’s development forward. This requires collaborations with like-minded institutions and persons; hence our goal in partnering with ARC in its mission to create cutting-edge pan-African natural disaster response systems to help governments in protecting the livelihoods of their vulnerable populations.”
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), https://aims.ac.za/, is Africa’s first network of centres of excellence in mathematical sciences. It was established to enable the continent’s youth to shape the continent’s future through Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education.
The African Risk Capacity model is home-grown, innovative, cost-effective, and is proving that it can assist member-states to strengthen their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters, thereby achieving the food security for their populations.
