Nizar Chaari, founding father of Epik Leaders, outlines his technique: to coach younger folks to suppose globally, act domestically and remodel Africa by means of their imaginative and prescient.
From the ‘Welcome Fest’ scholar mobilisation marketing campaign in Morocco to growth in Tunisia and Mali, and the approaching organisation of the Arab-African Summit on Non-Revenue Financing in Rabat, Dr Nizar Chaari, founding father of Epik Leaders, outlines his strategic imaginative and prescient: to coach younger individuals who suppose globally, act domestically and remodel Africa not by means of assets, however by means of moral management, armed with the instruments of synthetic intelligence and aware of societal affect.
You might have launched an initiative referred to as ‘Welcome Fest’ for Moroccan youth. What are its foremost goals?
‘Welcome Fest’ is the central component of our 2025-2026 plan, which goals to create 100 scholar management golf equipment in Morocco and others in Africa. After we began this journey with the president of Epik Leaders, Mahmoud Cherkaoui, we needed to rework universities into laboratories of motion the place younger folks develop, finance and implement concrete tasks. The goal is to develop their management abilities and anchor them within the social and financial actuality of the continent, making them brokers of transformation.
How is your affiliation organised to make sure that innovations, improvements and prototypes have a societal affect?
That is built-in into the design of our programmes. We first draw on the deep motivations of every participant: because of our Innermetrix® psychometric software, we be certain that the tasks developed are rooted in a want for civic engagement and social utility.
We now have additionally structured an incubation partnership with gamers corresponding to Technopark, which connects our younger folks with entrepreneurs and the innovation ecosystem. Every prototype or invention is evaluated not just for its feasibility, but additionally for its social or environmental potential.
Lastly, we undertake a utility-based analysis: the success of a mission is measured by its capability to resolve an actual downside, not solely by its financial profitability. It’s this strategy that we are going to promote by means of the EPIK 100 awards, which in January 2026 will recognise initiatives with a robust affect on society.
Do you could have any concrete examples of those achievements?
Completely! The newest EPIK Summer time Academy in June was a breeding floor for improvements with a robust societal affect. The teachers introduced all kinds of concrete tasks, together with digital options for recycling and the round financial system, regional advertising and marketing initiatives to advertise forgotten areas, and platforms selling extra inclusive tourism.
These options will be instantly built-in into the CSR technique of huge corporations. Through the academy, our companion Concentrix opened its premises and made its personal inside administration coaches obtainable to coach the younger folks. That is a unprecedented perception into the actual world of labor, which proves the relevance and instant applicability of their tasks.
What’s the standing of your initiative within the nations which might be becoming a member of your community (Tunisia, Senegal, Comoros, Mali, and many others.)?
The roll-out is in full swing, which may be very encouraging! Tunisia has already opened its nationwide coordination workplace and has begun opening golf equipment in its universities. Mali will inaugurate its first 4 golf equipment on 20 October 2025, marking a serious milestone. The Comoros is within the technique of structuring itself, with very promising discussions between younger folks dwelling on the islands and the Comorian diaspora to ascertain golf equipment each inside and outdoors the nation.
Different nations are within the superior preparatory section for imminent openings, together with Gabon, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Nigeria. The aim is to type the biggest pan-African scholar management community.
You’re saying an Arab-African summit on financing the non-profit sector on 20 November in Rabat. What’s at stake, and what can we realistically anticipate from this occasion?
The problem is obvious: to safe and maintain civic motion on each our continents. The non-profit sector is an important pillar of growth, but it surely stays too usually weakened by unstable and advert hoc funding.
First, we wish to determine revolutionary options, whether or not they contain social affect investing, Islamic finance or public-private partnerships devoted to non-profit initiatives.
We additionally wish to strengthen coordination between Arab and African actors by making a everlasting platform for trade and information sharing.
Lastly, we would like concrete outcomes.
This Summit is not going to be a easy seminar: it should outcome within the publication of a White Paper defining a standard roadmap for resilient financing, and the launch of cross-border pilot initiatives. These tasks will check the financing mechanisms developed collectively within the subject.
A current World Financial institution be aware means that start-up financing in Africa suffers from nice disparity. What position does EPIK Leaders play in correcting this?
The issue in Africa isn’t a lot an absence of assets as an absence of management that continues to be and is concerned domestically. Capital naturally follows true leaders.
At EPIK Leaders, our position is to create these leaders: people who suppose globally however act domestically. We’re coaching a era able to find pragmatic and efficient options to the issues of at this time and tomorrow. We’re creating huge synergies between younger folks from totally different nations in order that they’ll observe finest practices, develop sensible and revolutionary options, and make a long-term dedication to the event of their nation. Our product is impactful management.
Synthetic Intelligence is at present the topic of a lot dialogue. Past the hype, are future ‘leaders’ involved about its challenges and functions?
Synthetic intelligence is an absolute strategic precedence. It’s an integral a part of our academic strategy and our imaginative and prescient of African management. We now have created an inside suppose tank devoted to AI; this committee develops concrete instruments. It has already designed and built-in clever chatbots on our web site (epikleaders.org) and social networks to assist younger folks taken with our programmes and facilitate entry to info.
We’re additionally engaged on the event of a next-generation utility, an built-in progress stack platform combining EdTech (training) and HRTech (human assets) with a robust synthetic intelligence element.
EPIK Leaders operates as a non-profit start-up: we create scalable instruments with excessive added worth. We name on all those that are obsessed with youth, Africa, training and employability to affix us and assist us in each method attainable, as a result of it’s by investing in these leaders that we are going to safe the way forward for the continent.
To search out out extra in regards to the Arab-African Summit on Financing the Non-Revenue Sector, click on HERE.
