info@niarainstitute.com
Niara, pronounced ‘NiY-aa-raa’, is a swahili word meaning ‘one with high purpose’. The Niara Institute is an organisation set up to seek out inspired innovation to address socio-economic, governance and leadership challenges on the continent of Africa.
NIARA Institute
Africa’s vast potential in terms of human capital, natural resources, arable land and even urbanisation trends, have been spoken of for decades. Yet, aside from a few bright spots across the continent, Africa’s emergence, in terms of meeting the needs of its young, rapidly growing population, as well as making its rightful contribution to global conversations on matters of importance, has fallen well short. Its largest nations and economies from Nigeria to South Africa, Egypt to rapidly emerging Ethiopia are still more commonly referenced in terms of their challenges rather than their successes.
The Mission
Adenrele Adesina
VP Niara Institute
To Educate
Problems cannot be solved on the same level of thinking that enabled them to emerge and thrive in the first place. Our continent has yet to reach its obvious potential across all areas of human endeavour and still has many problems that constrain it from doing so. In order for Africa to truly flourish, we must examine and challenge as necessary, the fundamental wisdom of existing societal arrangements, development models and institutional structures in government and civil society such that we can adapt where necessary and recreate, as required, enabling Africa to reach its fullest potential and take its place in the world.
To Inform
Information is power. Stakeholders in any community or society need to be well informed in order to effectively engage and seek out optimal solutions that deliver progress for all. We are operating within a dynamic and rapidly evolving environment and the pandemic of 2020 was a clear illustration of how quickly our operating assumptions can become redundant. All too often, the mainstream narrative does not take account of the perspective of Africa and Africans, instead, leaning towards outdated stereotypes. The Niara Institute will always seek to facilitate the acquisition and dissemination of information that enables stakeholders across the nations of this continent to work towards superior outcomes that objectively benefit as many members of their community as is possible.
To Advocate
Progress on our continent is too often hindered by a lack of constructive engagement and informed dialogue amongst stakeholders within our society. The Niara Institute seeks to change this by creating opportunities for such dialogue to address the issues of our time and find solutions that are for the benefit and progress of the majority. We will focus on developing a deep understanding of the institutional structures that govern our nation and drive its economic, social and cultural development. We will seek to bring this understanding to as many people as possible in our nation, thus empowering them to constructively engage, particularly with government and public institutions. We will work to see methods and models that have been successfully deployed here in Nigeria adapted and applied as appropriate in nations across the continent to deepen citizen engagement and give rise to an informed and engaged citizenry.
To Engage
Private institutions continue to demonstrate significant agency in determining the evolution of society. Businesses at all levels are important stakeholders, growth contributors and citizens of any economy and society. They are all potential centres of positive influence, effective stewardship, innovation, and empowerment within any community and the Niara Institute seeks to harness this agency through the Niara Business Ecosystem (NBE). NBE seeks to create opportunities for corporate citizens, large and small to take their place in the building of our communities, economies, and societies across the continent. This will range from creating opportunities for shared knowledge and services, capacity building and mentoring for smaller businesses within our universe through to facilitating co-operation between larger corporates to help pool influence, knowledge and resources in order to positively shape our communities, our economy and our continent as a whole.
Recent Articles
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