What happens when a company thinks outside the box about how to best deliver long-term development solutions?
In the case of oil giant Chevron, it meant creating a unique semi-independent development agency: the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative and its implementing partner the Nigerian Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta, a local nonprofit. The project has 17 ongoing programs in four main focus areas: economic development, capacity building, peacebuilding, and analysis/advocacy.
“This type of corporate social enterprise is different than a typical aid driven project,” NDPI project director Dennis Flemming, said in an exclusive interview with Devex Impact. “It’s got a much longer term perspective [and] a very heavy emphasis on private sector-led development [by] looking at market forces and how those market forces in the Niger Delta can create more stability and more growth.”
Flemming acknowledges that there may be skeptics of Chevron’s approach in the Niger Delta, but says that the worlds most challenging places demand innovative approaches.
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