Nizar Manek is Managing Director at Periplus Research, a London-based professional services consultancy working across Africa, the Near East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia on market entry, corporate strategy, governance, and negotiations.

Nizar specialises in human-source network capabilities, network strategy, and qualitative network assessments. With over a decade of experience as a senior adviser to top-tier strategic advisory and commercial intelligence firms under non-disclosure agreements, he has led local research and analysis teams on hundreds of projects in diverse industries across dozens of countries. Nizar's teams have also extensively supported European foreign ministries during Track II peace negotiations during civil and international armed conflicts. He also participates as an OSCE-accredited international election observer in his regions of focus.

Previously, Nizar was an award-winning correspondent in Africa and the Near East, including with Bloomberg News, in charge of the Horn of Africa, Red Sea, and Gulf issues, and with Africa Confidential, focusing on North Africa, the Sahel, and West Africa. He has contributed thousands of articles to Bloomberg News, Businessweek, Africa Confidential, the Financial Times, Jane's Intelligence Review, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Le Monde Diplomatique, and the London Review of Books, receiving honours from the European Press Prize, Overseas Press Club of America, Transparency International, and Foreign Press Association in London. He has lectured to specialist audiences and contributed to academic literature with Routledge and Harvard's Center for International Development.

Now based in London, Nizar has lived in Addis Ababa, Cairo, Tunis, Istanbul, Yerevan, Athens, and New York. He is a UK citizen.

Education:

London School of Economics & Political Science ‘11
Columbia Law School ‘12
Columbia Business School ‘12
Columbia Journalism School ‘12
School of Oriental & African Studies ‘22
Boğazici University ‘22
Armenian School of Languages & Cultures ‘22
Koya University ‘22