Neha Wadekar

Neha Wadekar is an independent multimedia journalist reporting across the globe.

She reports at the intersections of climate, gender, conflict, health, human rights, emerging democracies, and politics.

Neha’s written and video work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, PBS NewsHour, the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Mother Jones, CNN, and others.

She has received fellowships from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, the United Nations Foundation, the Fuller Project, the Overseas Press Club, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the GroundTruth Project.

Contacts:

@NehaWadekar on X
SecureDrop

Makhtar Diop, managing director of International Finance Corp., during a panel session on day two of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 15 to 19. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images

World Bank Financing Arm Rejects Calls to Directly Compensate Victims of Harm at Kenya Schools

Neha Wadekar

- June 12

For the second time, the IFC is bucking recommendations to offer money as reparations to people hurt at a chain of schools it invested in, Bridge International Academies.

Razafihanta Flogone, 38, poses for a portrait inside her home in Ambinanibe in Fort-Dauphin, Madagascar, on July 11, 2023. Her husband Randriamanjaka Zeze used to fish where the port built by QMM is now located. They had to find new places to fish and she took on weaving to help support her family.

Rio Tinto’s Madagascar Mine Promised Prosperity. It Tainted a Community.

Neha Wadekar

- Apr. 3

The Anglo-Australian mining company is facing legal claims that it contaminated waterways and lakes with harmful levels of uranium and lead.

NAIROBI, KENYA - MARCH 11, 2023: A signpost advertising Bridge Academies in the Mukuru Kwa Njega slum. PHOTO BY BRIAN OTIENO for The Intercept

Whistleblower: The World Bank Helped Cover Up Child Sex Abuse at a Chain of For-Profit Schools It Funded

Ryan Grim, Neha Wadekar

- Oct. 17, 2023

Bridge International Academies was in the midst of a key financing round when allegations of child sex abuse emerged. They fought back hard.

NAIROBI, KENYA - MARCH 11, 2023: The entrance of Bridge International Academies in Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The for-profit education enterprise operates a network of low-cost schools in several African countries, including Kenya, focusing on providing affordable education to impoverished children. PHOTO BY BRIAN OTIENO for The Intercept

Two Harvard Grads Saw Big Profits in African Education. Children Paid the Price.

Neha Wadekar, Ryan Grim

- Mar. 23, 2023

An aggressive startup set out to disrupt African education. Now it’s plagued by a sexual abuse investigation.

Neha Wadekar

Contacts:

Posts:

World Bank Financing Arm Rejects Calls to Directly Compensate Victims of Harm at Kenya Schools

Rio Tinto’s Madagascar Mine Promised Prosperity. It Tainted a Community.

Whistleblower: The World Bank Helped Cover Up Child Sex Abuse at a Chain of For-Profit Schools It Funded

Two Harvard Grads Saw Big Profits in African Education. Children Paid the Price.