Nizar Manek is Managing Director at Periplus Research, a strategic advisory firm that addresses fundamental asymmetries in under-examined markets across Africa to Asia. With a focus on contextual assessment and relationship-based network methodologies, he has led hundreds of mandates spanning telecommunications to strategic resources.

Periplus employs a network-based approach across 90 jurisdictions including Horn & Eastern Africa; Central Africa; West Africa & Sahel; Southern Africa; North Africa; Middle East & Mediterranean; Central & Inner Asia; South & North Caucasus; and frontier markets in South and Southeast Asia. Through sustained dialogue within executive and political circles, Periplus transforms inaccessible knowledge into asymmetric advantage; advises institutions on market entry, government relations, regulatory affairs, and negotiations; and supports European foreign ministries in Track II peace processes.

Prior to establishing Periplus, Nizar advised top-tier strategic intelligence firms on network capabilities, operations, and assessment under confidentiality and white-label arrangements for over a decade. Previously, he led specialist coverage across the Horn of Africa, Red Sea, and Gulf for Bloomberg News and Businessweek. At Africa Confidential, he focused on North Africa, the Sahel, and West Africa. His analysis has appeared in the Financial Times, Jane's Intelligence Review, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Le Monde Diplomatique, and the London Review of Books. His reporting has received honours from the European Press Prize, Overseas Press Club of America, Transparency International, and the Foreign Press Association in London. He has lectured to specialist audiences and contributed to academic literature through Routledge and Harvard's Center for International Development.

A UK citizen based in London, Nizar has lived and worked in Addis Ababa, Cairo, Tunis, Istanbul, Yerevan, Athens, and New York. Educated at the London School of Economics, Columbia Law School, Columbia Business School, and SOAS, with regional languages studies at Boğaziçi University, the Armenian School of Languages & Cultures, and Koya University. He holds OSCE accreditation, completing qualifications in civil and commercial mediation.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​