Nigeria, March 26 -- I met Balkisu, a TikToker from the quiet town of Bauchi in North-East Nigeria, during the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria movement in 2024. After high school, Balkisu could not attend college due to financial constraints. Coming from a large family with competing priorities, her parents could not afford the expense of higher education. Still, Balkisu considered herself fortunate: she had access to a smartphone and one meal a day - luxuries that many of her peers lacked. Balkisu's story embodies the hopes and aspirations of our new grantmaking initiative: Nigeria Next.

Nigeria Next, created and led by our Abuja-based staff, will invest in Nigeria's young people, so they can drive social and economic change. We believe that...