The Harvard Kennedy School of Government has appointed a Nigerian, Mr. Patrick Okigbo III, as a Senior Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (M-RCBG) for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Okigbo will join 17 other distinguished professionals from business and government to address issues at the interface of public and private sectors.

This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday by Ms. Victoria Omachi of Nextier Capital Limited, saying that the Senior Fellows’ roles will strengthen the connection between theory and practice, offering both faculty and students insights to the nature of social problems and their most practical solutions.

As a Senior Fellow, Omachi stated, Okigbo’s research will be on ‘Rebuilding the Falling House: Technology Innovations and Africa’s Renaissance.’ She said his faculty sponsor is Harvard Professor John Haigh who is the Co-Director of the M-RCBG with Larry Summers, a Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School.

According to her, this research underpins Okigbo’s conviction that Africa can leapfrog to the next frontier of development by leveraging ubiquitous technology innovations to address many of her governance and development challenges. Alongside his research engagement, she said, the Harvard Fellow will lead study group sessions with other Senior Fellows, lecturers and students at the Harvard Kennedy School in his area of research.

Part of the statement reads: “Okigbo is the Founder of Nextier Advisory, a public policy advisory firm with a focus on improving governance and development outcomes in Africa. Nextier works with major government institutions and international development partners. It is the local implementing partner of two of the most extensive infrastructure-focused development programmes in Nigeria. Nextier manages grants from top foundations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and George Soros-funded Open Society Initiative for West Africa.

“Okigbo holds a Bachelor of Agriculture degree from the University of Nigeria, a Masters in Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University in Atlanta, and an Executive Masters in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. He sits on the board of Tenece, a technology services firm with operations in four African countries and the United Arab Emirates. He is a Global Advisor to Energy for Growth Hub, a Washington D.C.-based energy solutions institution.

“Okigbo serves on several Federal and State government committees and is a trusted advisor to several senior public sector actors. Earlier in his career, he was a consultant with Accenture, Vice President with Citigroup in New York and Washington DC, Chief Financial Officer at Transcorp Plc., and a Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan. Okigbo writes a regular blog on public policy and is widely-published in newspapers.”

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