Meet our Executive Director

Dr. Emmanuel Nibishaka

Executive Director – PACE AFRICA

Dr. Emmanuel Nibishaka brings a wealth of experience both from the public and private sector, having worked in South Africa, Rwanda and the United States of America. Until May 2022, he served as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB); and from August 2017 to July 29, 2019, as the Secretary General of the National Commission for Human Rights, Republic of Rwanda.

Prior to that, he served as the First Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the United Nations in New York. Dr. Nibishaka started his career at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in the Security Sector Governance Programme (SSG) in 2010. He was also a part time Research Consultant in the International Politics programme at Rosa Luxemburg Foundation SADC regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa between 2010-2012.

He studied Political Sciences and International Security in South Africa and the United States of America and held various fellowships including a visiting doctoral fellowship at Columbia University in New York (USA) between 2014-2016, a Dean Fellowship in Security Studies at the University of Central Florida (USA) between 2020-2021; and a Mandela Rhodes Scholarship at the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa between 2011-2012. He is also an alumni of the University of Pretoria (2009) and New York University School of Law (2015).