Sustainability study for Radio Ndarason in Chad and Nigeria

Radio Ndarason Internationale

Radio Ndarason International (RNI) is a regional radio network based in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) area. With production and broadcast facilities in Chad and Nigeria, it uses local indigenous languages (Kanuri, Kanembu and Buduma) to counter violent extremism and disinformation, and promote sustainable development. Ndarason interacts with approximately 9.6 million listeners daily. Ndarason broadcasts three hours a day on shortwave throughout the LCB, and 24 hours a day on its FM network. Its FM stations are in Maiduguri in Nigeria, Baga Sola, Bol, Mao, Liwa, Ngouri, Doum Doum and N’Djamena in Chad.

Ndarason is operated by Okapi Consulting, a non-profit company registered in South Africa, specializing in media projects in conflict zones and fragile states. Okapi Consulting has established branches in Chad and Nigeria that are implementing the RNI project. RNI employs nearly 80 people, 95% of whom are from the region.

RNI was launched in 2016 to reach out to the people of the LCB affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. Under British and US funding, RNI made its debut in Maiduguri, broadcasting only on shortwave, with a signal picked up throughout the LCB. Since then, it has grown in stages. Initially operating only with a studio and a team in Maiduguri, it expanded to Chad, with the establishment of the radio headquarters in N’Djamena in 2018 under Dutch funding. Since then, AFD joined RNI’s donor group in 2019 with funding on Nigeria and Chad, and Switzerland for the period 2022 – 2025 for the same countries. The FM network around Lake Chad on the Chad side was established step by step between 2018 and 2021 thanks to AFD and Dutch funding. In 2023, RNI launched FM in Maiduguri, making it easier for the 3 million residents of the LCB’s largest city to access RNI. In 2023, the German federal government granted funding to Okapi Consulting for the expansion of the network in Niger and Cameroon, where teams with local staff are in place in Diffa and Maroua. The Cameroon and Niger facilities are now closed.

Objective of the radio:

Since it began broadcasting, RNI’s main goal has been: To improve the lives of the people of the Lake Chad Basin (men and women) through access to reliable information and the ability to make their voices heard by decision-makers.

Background

The violent insurgency that has affected the entire LCB region is now entering its second decade. Progress has been made in creating and unifying regional military efforts to combat Boko Haram and its branches, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), and JAS, including through the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). However, the overwhelming focus on security responses to the insurgency has meant that the fundamental issues fuelling the violence remain largely unresolved. These problems are multiple but can be summarized as follows:

1. Weak state presence in insurgency-affected areas, especially in remote border areas. Non-state actors like Boko Haram have taken advantage of this sense of marginalization, attempting to win over the population by propagating and, in some cases, imposing a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that rejects democracy and the nation-state in favour of religious caliphates.

2. A region of fragile states : The countries bordering Lake Chad are fragile states, with porous borders and, in some cases, a marginal government presence beyond the capitals. The Lake Chad Basin states have failed to contain armed groups operating in their peripheries, whether jihadist or otherwise. Non-state armed groups have exploited state weakness.

3. The challenges are long-term, but the threats are immediate : Meeting the socio-economic needs and requirements of the people living in the Lake Chad Basin is a long-term challenge for governments in the region. While conditions cannot be changed quickly, governments can and should try to regain the trust of their people. ISWAP has become increasingly savvy about how to win the support of local people. Unlike Boko Haram, it has worked to address gaps in service delivery and other grievances of local people – by providing social services and allowing economic activities to continue. This strengthened its ties with the populations while facilitating the recruitment of fighters. This represents a new challenge for the Nigerian state and its neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

4. Poor civil-military relations: Mutual distrust between military and civilian populations prevents dialogue, undermines understanding and cooperative problem-solving. Bringing together senior army officers – on air – with the people they are mandated to protect offers an opportunity to dismantle the rumour and create a dialogue of understanding. Information and dialogue can counter instability and extremism.

The role of RNI

The complex issues at stake in the Lake Chad region require a global and long-term vision. It will take time to address these many challenges, even with the help of international actors. But there is room for acute interventions to begin to create space for peaceful discussions and interactions between communities, and to foster a deeper understanding of the issues at the local level among affected populations. Local religious, traditional, and community leaders can help offer alternative views and perspectives on Islam and its role in society. Their voices and opinions must play a leading role. Armed groups and criminals seek to divide populations and stoke instability, which promotes the prosperity of their operations, but has a dramatic impact on the well-being of local communities, both in the short and long term.

Dialogue helps prevent and reduce conflict and creates deeper understanding between communities. The greater the reach of a radio service, the greater and more diverse the number of participants in the dialogue. Because the conflict is not limited to one country, discussions about how to resolve it should not either. It is in this space that a regional radio station can intervene and have a lasting impact. Radio reflects the concerns, realities and issues of the moment and can give a voice to those who do not have one. It stimulates and supports dialogue, exchange and understanding. Credible information is essential in conflict situations. People in the Lake Chad Basin need objective, reliable and regular information on current events and current events, as rumours, fake news and lack of reliable information in relevant local languages fuel the conflict. RNI brings together isolated groups that do not usually communicate with each other and allows them to find common ground on issues that might otherwise divide them. It also allows those who don’t typically have voices to voice their fears, concerns, and hopes for the future using a medium that can reach and is taken seriously by politicians and leaders. RNI is also an auxiliary support tool for larger-scale regional initiatives led by actors such as the EU, UN, AU, LBC and others. Given the long-term communication challenges of the MNJTF and the LCBC, RNI is well placed as a platform for dialogue between all stakeholders.

RNI offers a variety of programming: national and regional news in the three languages of broadcast, programs on health, education, and gender issues. It offers talk shows, programs on peace and Islam as well as on reconciliation and the reintegration of unarmed combatants. The 2 national stations in Chad and Nigeria also offer interactive programs. The complete schedules of the FM and shortwave are in Appendix 2.

Dissemination infrastructure

Shortwave and FM

RNI’s broadcasting infrastructure ensures that all areas of the LCB have direct access to RNI programming, with a signal that covers an area from Dakar to Khartoum. The FM ensures that people in key regions have access to RNI programmes at any time of the day and have access to content specifically produced in their immediate region and targeted.

RNI broadcasts daily on shortwave for three hours a day – 120 minutes in the morning and 60 minutes in the evening; these are peak times in a region that has a long and continuous tradition of listening to SW, including programs from Deutsche Welle, Radio France Internationale and the British Broadcasting Corporation. Shortwave is particularly useful in areas where communication infrastructure is weak or non-existent, such as the Lake Chad Basin. RNI’s SW broadcasts cannot be disrupted, due to their offshore location, making the programming safe from external interference.

In areas where the infrastructure is reasonably developed, especially in urban areas, FM transmitters tend to be a better means of broadcasting to a target audience. FM covers a much smaller target area than SW, but with a higher quality audio signal. FM transmitters also allow for the broadcasting of targeted content in the country where the transmitter is located – content adapted to the local population in Chad and Nigeria.

Results achieved

Okapi Consulting conducted its latest survey of auditors across Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger in September – November 2025, with 5,000 people. Here are the main benefits.

1. 94% of respondents believe that Ndarason’s new programs provide reliable information
2. 82% of respondents believe that Ndarason allows them to effectively inform decision-makers
3. 74% of respondents believe that Ndarason gives them ideas to improve gender equality in their family or community

In Africa and the LCB region, radio remains by far the most used tool by the population to access information and entertainment in these countries. The figures for the individual countries are also revealing, especially in Chad and Nigeria, where Ndarason has been operating for almost a decade, 73% and 82% listen four or more times a week, respectively, while in Cameroon and Niger, where RNI does not broadcast on FM, the corresponding figures are 48% and 55%, respectively .

Background for this study

After 8 years on the air, and in a global context that is increasingly difficult for the media, but also for official development assistance, the radio is starting a new stage, that of sustainability. This is a key step, because radio is important to its listeners, and must meet the challenges of a self-sustaining media transformation. To this end, AFD and Okapi Consulting considered it important to request expertise for the development of a study that will make it possible to establish a multidimensional inventory of the existing structure, answer the key questions of this process and propose several concrete and formalized options and strategies for the sustainability of RNI through cost control, the empowerment of RNI’s national and regional teams and a format for the future radio network.

Throughout its existence, Ndarason has been both a functional radio station and a journalism school. None of the staff in Chad, and only a few in Nigeria, were journalists before joining the radio. Learning by doing was thus a preferred modus operandi for OC during the two previous funding phases. Also, all journalists and technicians (90) have been trained by external trainers and expatriate staff. Considerable progress has been made in strengthening the skills of local staff, as well as in replacing expatriates with professional local staff. However, the context calls for these efforts to continue and support the local teams to put them in a position to ensure the management of the radio in the future through training dedicated to editorial management, HR, project management, fundraising and relations with the authorities, but also to the training of their peers to be able to train them in turn.

Indicative key questions, which will serve as a guide for the consultants’ reflections

1. A central issue concerns the future financing of RNI. In the context of declining global development assistance, this can no longer be relied upon to sustain operations in the years to come. What alternative sources of funding can be found to support RNI operations in the future? How can its existing broadcast and studio infrastructure be leveraged to generate revenue for RNI? What other options are there?
2. One question concerns the size of RNI’s operations. How many staff will a future regional structure need, what will be the profile of this staff – international or national – and how many can it afford to have, while maintaining the quality and relevance of the content. How to create a structure that meets the needs of its listeners, but is financially viable.
3. Will RNI remain a tightly linked network with centralized content coordination as it is today, or could it become four independent stations sharing content? Which organizational structure makes the most sense in terms of auditors’ needs and financial realities?
4. Are there any partnerships that could strengthen RNI and other radio stations operating in the LCB area?
5. Which structure is most likely to protect an independent editorial line and policy as well as the safety of RNI staff?

Methodology

This study will be conducted in close collaboration with Okapi Consulting’s management teams in South Africa, RNI’s editorial teams in Chad and Nigeria, as well as the administrative and financial teams in Chad and Nigeria. Okapi Consulting will provide historical project documents, as well as M&E studies and surveys that have been carried out over the years. The Okapi Consulting team will be available to meet with the chosen firm/people to brief them on the main lines of the project. The study will also require an initial period of fieldwork in N’Djamena, Chad, and Maiduguri, Nigeria. The selected organization / consultants should also interact with local actors from both countries, including but not limited to other NGOs and media organizations, local authorities in the lake region, donors, etc.

The presentation of the study to the directors of Okapi Consulting and the management team of RNI will be followed by a discussion between the authors of the study and these teams. The study must also be submitted to the AFD – Chad and Paris offices – for their consideration and comments. The study must include an implementation plan with key milestones in the implementation of the strategy that also take into account the radio’s budgetary situation.

Okapi Consulting is committed to supporting the study with a focus group exercise and a survey on listeners’ expectations for the sustainability of the radio.

Indicative activities:

• Identify the most viable format in terms of structural and legal organization for the network and between the different country structures, as well as with Okapi Consulting.
• Determine the optimal number of RNI personnel based on organizational options
• Confirmation of training needs and evaluation of training strategies to increase local capacity in project management, administration, financial management,
• Identify the different sources of funding and develop a strategy for mobilizing funds in a global context of official development assistance constraints.
• Evaluate revenue-generating opportunities through marketing research, such as selling advertising time
• Assess the adequacy of broadcasting transmitters’ existing infrastructure to the needs of the public
• Develop a strategy and implement the different steps towards the sustainability of RNI. Conduct a SWOT analysis on fundraising opportunities, including as a regional counter-disinformation hub.

Deliverables:

Deliverable 1: study scoping note D+12

Deliverable 2: Interim report with 2 or 3 scenarios that answer the questions asked, including fundraising plan, revenue generating plan, (informal) marketing study and evaluation of the relevance of the current distribution network D+ 35 – 40

Deliverable 3: Discussion workshop on these scenarios and Report D+ 45 – 50

Deliverable 4: Writing of the final report with all the elements listed below, including implementation strategy, organizational diagrams, training plan, HR plan D+ 60-75

• Strategy for the implementation of the sustainability process
• Organizational Structure Diagrams for a Future RNI
• Training plan for RNI teams
• HR plan for a future RNI
• Fundraising Plan for a Future RNI
• Revenue-generating plan for a future RNI
• Overview of Radio Marketing Opportunities
• Assessment of the relevance of RNI’s current broadcast network to its listeners

Timeline:

Proposal Submission: May 22, 2026

Contract Signing Date: June 5, 2026

Number of days: 50-75

End of contract: October 1, 2026

Travel location: N’Djamena, Chad and Maiduguri, Nigeria

Research expertise

1. Excellent knowledge of radio management in Africa and ensuring their sustainability
2. Demonstrated ability to conduct analytical studies on radio projects in Africa
3. Knowledge of the Lake Chad Basin media landscape
4. Knowledge of the financial challenges of African media
5. In-depth knowledge of the legal and political issues of the media in post-conflict areas in Africa.
6. Francophone and Anglophone

Please send your proposals, including the proposed methodology, CVs of team members, a budget, as well as a proposed timeline, to: stephanie@okapi.cc by May 22 2026.

Budget

The budget for this study amounts to Euro 50,000

The selection will be made on the basis of:

1. The organization’s experience in implementing similar activities 30%
2. The proposal for the implementation of the project 35%
3. The financial proposal 35%

Tagged as: Agriculture, Food Security and Livelihoods