The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) has announced Ghana’s Nafi Chinery as the new Africa director of the independent non-governmental organization.
In a press release Monday, President and CEO of NRGI Suneeta Kaimal, said “We are thrilled to name Nafi as our new Africa director. Since joining NRGI in 2017, Nafi has been a strategic leader, a dynamic ambassador and an innovative implementor.
In her service as interim Africa director since November 2022, she has demonstrated her ambition and vision for our Africa program. Nafi is the right leader to ensure that NRGI deepens engagements with women and vulnerable communities, and supports the strong African movement to accelerate a just energy transition and manage natural resources accountability in the interest of citizens.“
In her position Chinery will oversee NRGI’s programming across sub-Saharan Africa, including country programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. She will develop and coordinate relationships with governments, regional institutions, civil society actors and communities, focused on spurring public dialogue and innovation about the management of the oil, gas and mining sectors and how Africa can accelerate an equitable energy transition. She also serves as a member of NRGI’s global institutional leadership team and co-leads NRGI’s working group on energy transition.
“I’m incredibly excited to take on the role of Africa director at NRGI,” Chinery said. “This is a chance to work with some of the most talented and committed people in the field to help shape the future of natural resource governance across the continent and make a meaningful difference in the lives of Africans.
“In this new role, my vision is to prioritize transparency and accountability across the extractive sector value chain and help shape a sustainable energy future for Africa,” Chinery added. “This means actively promoting a just and equitable transition to renewable energy across the continent. It requires constructive engagement with governments, key regional and global institutions, civil society, local communities, vulnerable populations, and the private sector to promote policies and practices that enable African countries and citizens to thrive in the future. From minerals needed for green technology to building economic futures beyond oil, this transition is critical to addressing the twin challenges of climate change and energy poverty in Africa,” she said.
Chinery served first as NRGI’s Ghana Country Manager, before rising to the role of manager of the organization’s programs across Anglophone West Africa. Prior to NRGI, she worked with Oxfam GB and the African Women’s Development Fund, a pan-African grant-making foundation supporting women’s rights organizations. She is a steering committee member of the Ghana Open Extractive Program and the Ghana chapter of the Open Government Partnership, an advisory team member of PPA Watch and a board member of the Institute of Energy Securities in Ghana. She has worked for more than 25 years in the civil society sector, dedicated to social justice, movement building, advocacy, multi-sector engagement, research and analysis.
