Nizar was earlier based in Cairo, Tunis, Algiers, and London as a correspondent for the fortnightly Africa Confidential (2013-16) and a regional consultant for Control Risks, G3 Good Governance Group, and others on corporate investigations, political analysis, and arbitration and litigation support in the Horn of Africa, Egypt, and Maghreb (2015-16), an Egypt consultant for the Center for International Development at Harvard University(2015), and a Marjorie Deane fellow at the Financial Times(2013). His co-authored exposé on Egypt’s $9.4bn slush funds won honours including citations from the Overseas Press Club of America for its Morton Frank Award for Best magazine international business news reporting and the European Press Prize. Nizar studied at the London School of Economics, Columbia Law School, and Columbia Journalism School.