Economic Growth & Development

1. Economic and Financial Analysis

Understanding the costs and benefits of alternative policy options enhances efficiency, minimizes unintended consequences, and ensures policies align with agency goals. Our economists are experts at estimating and communicating the costs and benefits of environmental, social, health, financial, and law enforcement projects, policies, and regulations. We excel at quantifying the benefits and costs falling outside the bounds of market activity that are not readily monetized but often critical to decision making.

Economic impact analyses are crucial for planning, providing insights into employment, income, and business development associated with planned public and private investments. To ensure that project costs are fully recovered fairly and equitably, we conduct studies to assist government and other clients in determining appropriate policies. We also national as well as local jurisdictions, and industries assess and improve their competitive position and develop strategies to attract businesses and formulate economic development plans.

To accomplish these, Acumen Research uses numerous analytical tools and methods to ensure our economic analyses capture important differences among populations as well as communicate how populations across region, age, gender, income, race, and ethnicity are impacted by each potential policy option. By employing advanced modeling techniques and statistical tools, our economists and data scientists leverage data to help our clients answer difficult policy questions. We employ state-of-the art data cleaning, data harmonization, and data analysis methods to turn data into insights. We also routinely leverage our broad industry expertise to model complex systems to simulate the impacts of policies and regulations on the environment, human health and safety, impacted industries, and the broader economy.

2. Value Chain Analysis & Development

A value chain is a set of linkages between a number of independent enterprises involved in the production, processing, trade, consumption and disposal of a particular product or service. Each phase adds value and the whole chain aims to satisfy the demand of the final consumer and to increase profits for the actors involved through increased efficiency and competitiveness.

Value Chain Assessment is key to the success of any firm with the process extending across all stages of the software life cycle. A clear-cut understanding of value-chain means gaining an overall knowledge of company’s financials, consumer & supply base, processes and organizational strategies. This definitely needs to be looked upon in a multi-angle perspective. When assessing the viability of any business venture or project, we consider relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. We help you seize value-addition investment opportunities that may be otherwise overlooked.

Acumen Research uses a systemic approach to value chains, by including all actors inside and around a value chain, such as (financial or technical) business providers and the institutional environment. We believe that a healthy and strong value chain is a diverse value chain, including different sized companies and different groups of people.

Our Consultants actively works together with our clients, including governments, companies and NGOs, to identify the most promising value chains and intervention opportunities. We analyze the selected value chains and give advice on how to develop the value chains. We offer coaching, training, capacity building for different actors, and facilitate and develop multi-stakeholder partnerships.

We work effectively in environments comprising many stakeholders, such as governments, farmers, industry (i.e. processing companies and input/service suppliers), cooperative groups, non-government organizations and community members. We are skilled at quantifying economic impacts for decision makers and helping clients assess risks. We ensure all possible prospective value chain development opportunities are included and that linkages between them are well understood.

3. Youth Employment & Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a transformative option to unlock income generation. Through entrepreneurship, young people can achieve economic security and independence. They are critical to future economic development and key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. When youth-led businesses thrive, they create new jobs, shape local communities, and drive economic growth.

At Acumen Research, we believe that providing young people with opportunities for employment and enterprise development is essential for creating sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous communities. Our services are tailored to strengthen entrepreneurial management skills, increase innovation capabilities, integrate sustainability, develop skills and human resources, and enhance productivity among small, medium, and large enterprises. We provide high quality capacity building, value-added services, and access to key resources for sustainable enterprise development. We focus on developing sustainable enterprises across various sectors to compete effectively in the regional and global markets.

Our comprehensive range of end-to-end services supports organizations to carry out end-to-end value chain optimization, implement better and more efficient processes, address stakeholder concerns, and accomplishing their growth objectives. Our private sector development solutions are founded on the need to create more robust ecosystems and businesses across nine pillars as indicated in the section below. Together, we focus on sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship, equipping underserved young people with the skills, confidence, and connections they need to beat the odds and become successful, responsible business owners