Meet the VDCL Partners: Dev-Afrique, Nigeria
Better Futures CoLab is a force for change that aligns the brightest players to design & incubate futures. A key aspect of our approach is partnering with local experts and we are so excited to be working with Dev-Afrique Development Advisors in Nigeria, who provide valuable knowledge, experience, networks and understanding of the local context. We caught up with Ridwan at Dev-Afrique to find out more about the vaccine ‘state of play’ in the country at the moment and their hopes for working together.
Dev-Afrique is a social impact organization, made up of strategy and development professionals. They are committed to solving some of the most complex developmental challenges in Africa, and do so by leveraging their networks across the continent.
Meet the team
Ridwan M. Sorunke is leading the collaboration with the Vaccine Data CoLab from Dev-Afrique’s side, and is bringing his experience in microbiology, public health and international development to the table. He has worked across Africa as well as internationally with organizations including Procter & Gamble, on issues ranging from family health and maternal nutrition, to the geospatial data space with a focus on primary healthcare and immunization in developing countries.
In recent years, Dev-Afrique have been working closely with local stakeholders including the government and not for profit sector to maximize social impact in Nigeria and across West Africa.
Current state of play
Nigeria’s use of data for vaccine microplanning and vaccine deployment is not new, and in recent years it has been ahead of many other countries in Africa with this. One success has been the use of geospatial data to optimize planning to help eliminate Polio in Nigeria. There were also many learnings from the Ebola epidemic in 2014/5 that were used in the years since, but the COVID-19 pandemic really showcased the impact of data for swift and effective decision making.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria’s Primary Healthcare Development Agency leveraged geospatial data to help plan how best to deploy vaccines, ensuring they reached the most at-risk groups. Microplanning has been adopted at national level in Nigeria, but also state and local level, meaning that the capacity in government for successful use of vaccine data is increasing.
While things are progressing well, there are a number of gaps and challenges still to be tackled. As highlighted in our recent workshop, hyperlocal data consolidation is needed to further drive vaccine uptake and reduce vaccine expenses. There is also a capacity gap — especially at the subnational level — meaning varying capacities across different states in the country.
What’s next?
The partnership with the Vaccine Data CoLab has already started bringing together various stakeholders to align on priority areas of intervention. Next, the hope is that this continues to help identify challenges and opportunities, driving high priority interventions.
The Vaccine Data CoLab facilitation will also help to support the implementation of these priority interventions, building bridges between those who need it and those who have the solution; in this case, the development partners and local implementers, and the government.
Stay up to date with all things #VaccineDataCoLab by visiting our website and Medium blog. You can catch up on our chat with our partners in Uganda here.
