Research opportunities,
rooted in African communities
Nkara connects African and diaspora students and researchers to ethical, locally grounded research opportunities in their home countries.
What is Nkara?
Shifting power, access, and authorship back to African researchers
Nkara was founded in 2025 after a joint recognition of the gap between the immense research potential of African students and diaspora members and the lack of opportunities to apply their skills, despite their powerful lived experience and contextual knowledge.
Africa accounts for 15% of the world's population and 25% of the global disease burden, yet produces just 2% of global health research output. We exist to change that.
Find an OpportunityTalent exists. Access does not.
African and diaspora students face structural barriers that prevent them from contributing to research in their own contexts.
Excluded from Home
African students and researchers are routinely shut out of research opportunities in their own countries and contexts.
Diaspora Disconnected
Diaspora members want to contribute to their home countries but face a near-total absence of tangible, structured pathways.
Extractive Systems
Global health research is often externally led and inequitable, extracting knowledge while excluding local voices from authorship.
Invisible Mentorship
Talent is abundant, but access to mentors, networks, and visible research pathways remains out of reach for most.
How Nkara operates
Equity
Fair access to opportunities, authorship, and decision-making, not as an afterthought but as the foundation.
Opportunity
Practical, real pathways into research for African and diaspora students and early-career researchers.
Impact
Research that benefits local communities, not just publications and citation counts.