Our Founding Story
The FATE Research Institute was created from the thorough lack of data around entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Little to nothing existed to help people in this space and more so, to drive strategic decision-making by policymakers and other stakeholders. Given our legacy and impact on the Nigerian entrepreneurship ecosystem over two decades, we get asked a lot of questions covering all areas of entrepreneurship. This made us realise we didn’t have answers to some crucial questions that became frequently asked. We also didn’t have direct access to the right people who could give clarity on such questions. This was a consistent problem for us, which inspired the start of our journey into research and policy. Since starting in 2015, we have published 13 research papers. This has placed us at the forefront of entrepreneurship research and policy recommendations in Nigeria.
Ecosystem Driven: The research process starts by identifying the questions being asked by both our entrepreneurs and external individuals. Some of the questions we ask ourselves are;
Our Research Approach
1.
- What are the common questions our entrepreneurs ask us? What are the challenging areas out there that people can’t seem to grasp or fully understand? What will be the impact of answering these questions? What kind of policies can be recommended by answering these questions? All these and more are questions we identify and focus on as the basis in mapping our research areas.
2.
Opportunity Driven
- Opportunity Driven: One of our perspectives to research is, every problem or challenge comes with different possible opportunities, we pride ourselves in always being ahead of the curve by asking ourselves how we can provide more insights and perspective to any problem. A typical example of this is the current Covid Pandemic. We decided not to view the Covid Pandemic from a problematic lens only. But to learn about how the pandemic affects the entire entrepreneurship ecosystem in Nigeria.
3.
Data Collection and Processing
- Data Collection and Processing: After all research area has been discovered or decided upon, then we carry out empirical research by; launching surveys and state holder sessions; speaking with the appropriate people who can provide answers and carrying out thorough research across the board.
4.
Sharing findings
- Sharing findings: One of our goals for our research institute is to ensure that what we learn is not only useful to FATE Foundation but all areas and individuals of the entrepreneurship ecosystems at large. With this in mind, over the years we have published reports, policy white papers, briefs, opinion pieces, and insights. We’re always in search of new and more effective ways to communicate our work. Our research institute is for you and we hope you will explore, share and also start conversations around pressing entrepreneurship issues that we all need to talk about.
5.
Policy Dialogue Series
- Policy Dialogue Series: We pick up conversations from our yearly policy dialogue series. Where all stakeholders such as policymakers, thought professional leaders, investors, related government representatives and entrepreneurs sit together to discuss challenges about a particular sector yearly. In this dialogue series, a round table of leaders and individuals come together to share and learn using our published research as the basis of birthing salient conversations.