Agora Policy unveils new board, strategic plan

Agora Policy, an Abuja-based think tank, has announced the appointment of a new board of directors as part of efforts to strengthen its impact in Nigeria’s policy space.

In a statement on Tuesday, the organisation said Ojobo Atuluku, a Harvard Kennedy School graduate with decades of leadership experience in the non-profit sector, will chair the nine-member board.

Shuaibu Idris, a corporate executive and an alumnus of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), will serve as co-chair.

The board also includes Simon Kolawole, publisher of TheCable; Leena Hoffmann, associate fellow at Chatham House; and Ijeoma Uju, a corporate governance expert at Templars.

Others are Angela Attah, a strategy consultant; Tengi George-Ikoli, an energy transition expert; and  Mohammed Shuaibu, an economist.

Waziri Adio, founder of Agora Policy, said the changes are aimed at building on the organisation’s early achievements.

“It is important to build on early success and start putting enduring structures in place to ensure that the organisation can be here for the long haul and continue to deliver outstanding public value,” he said.

“We want to ensure that Agora Policy becomes one of Africa’s leading think tanks and serves as an incubator of ideas and a catalyst for evidence-based policymaking.”

Agora Policy’s new five-year strategic plan, titled Agora Policy’s Direction of Travel, 2024 to 2028, outlines its core focus areas: economic growth and development, democracy and governance, and climate change and energy transition.

The non-profit organisation will also incorporate cross-cutting themes of technology, gender, and social inclusion in its work.

“Through initial and catalytic support from the MacArthur Foundation, Agora Policy has produced some significant reports and undertaken key activities in just two years of existence. We are now repositioning to scale our impact,” Adio added.

The board will provide strategic oversight to the organisation and guide the implementation of the plan.