Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is an expert on African agriculture and nutrition, entrepreneurship, social innovation, and youth development. She has over 25 years of international development experience and is a recognized serial entrepreneur, author, public speaker, and consultant.
Ndidi serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), AGRA, the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, Nigerian Breweries Plc. (Heineken), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. India, Fairfax Africa Holdings Canada, Royal DSM Sustainability Board, Netherlands, and the African Philanthropy Forum. She previously served on the Boards of Nestle Nigeria Plc., the World Vegetable Center, Businessday Newspapers and Cornerstone Insurance Plc.
Ndidi started her career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, working in Chicago, New York, and Johannesburg. She returned to Nigeria in 2000 to serve as the pioneer executive director of FATE Foundation, supporting young entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses. In 2002, she established LEAP Africa to inspire, empower, and equip a new cadre of principled, disciplined, and dynamic young leaders in Africa. In the same year, she established NIA to support female university students in Nigeria to achieve their highest potential.
Ndidi is the co-founder and Executive Chair of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition, which works across Africa shaping policies and implementing ecosystem solutions. As the co-founder of AACE Foods, which produces a range of packaged spices, seasonings, snacks and cereals for local and international markets, Ndidi has propelled the growth of a catalytic business. As the founder of Nourishing Africa, a digital funding, training and knowledge hub, she is supporting entrepreneurs in 37 African countries. Her latest start-up is Changing Narratives Africa committed to changing global mindsets about Africa by showcasing the Continent’s contributions to the global food ecosystem through the pioneering work of her dynamic people, their innovations, and products.
Ndidi was recognized as a Young Global Leader and a Schwab Social Innovator by the World Economic Forum and received a National Honor from the Nigerian Government. She was recognized as one of the 20 Power African Women by Forbes, as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African Magazine and received the 2021 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Awards, the highest honors given by the school. She is a TED Global and TED Women speaker.
Ndidi is the author of “Social Innovation in Africa: A Practical Guide for Scaling Impact,” and “Food Entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling Resilient Agriculture Businesses,” both published by Routledge. She is also the author of “Working for God in the Marketplace.”
Ndidi holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She was a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow. She is currently a visiting Scholar at Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University.
Rahmat is the Co-Founder/Co-CEO (Operations) at Nourishing Africa where she leads the company’s membership engagement activities and internal business operations.
Rahmat has spent the past 3 years on consulting projects in the agriculture sector, providing project implementation and advisory services on key agricultural value chains in Nigeria including cocoa and cassava. Rahmat has provided business development services to a tech start-up in Northern Nigeria, helping to raise funding from a World Bank sponsored program; worked with smallholder farmers on a cocoa sustainability project across Southwest Nigeria; and provided backstopping support for a pioneer early generation seed enterprise in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Rahmat holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture with a specialization in Soil Science and Land Resource Management from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
“I am passionate about creating impact at the community level. Nourishing Africa’s vision of supporting 1 million agri-food entrepreneurs to scale their businesses aligns with my belief that for economies to grow, small businesses must grow; and so, through our activities in the landscape, we are able to have direct impact on the lives of the entrepreneurs we work with and on the communities where they work.”
Anthonia Taiwo-Ajayi is the Human Resource Manager at Sahel Consulting. As part of the leadership team that promotes a culture of excellence at Sahel, Anthonia supports project teams to grow the organization by exceeding client expectations. She has about 10 years of experience in strategic planning, performance management, change management, and outsourcing, gleaned from working in FMCG, Telecommunications, Finance, and Consulting. She is accountable for the overall development and implementation of people-focused policies aimed at attracting, recruiting, and retaining high performers into Sahel Consulting.
Prior to joining Sahel Consulting, Anthonia worked as the Head of Human Resources and Consulting department at Jake Riley Limited. She led a team of consultants to review HR operations and policies across public sector led organizations. Her journey in HR has taken her through various roles and assignments from outsourcing, people development, research & development, leadership and team management, regulatory compliance and strategic planning. Anthonia is result-oriented and dependable with a proven track record in the formulation and implementation of effective processes to drive competitive growth.
Anthonia had her first degree from Obafemi Awolowo University and has an MBA in Human Resource Management from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. She is a certified professional in Human Resources-International (PHRi), a PROSCI certified Change Manager, a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management Nigeria (CIPMN), and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Dolapo is a Finance and Tax professional with over 5 years’ experience in providing Finance and Tax advisory services in the Agricultural, manufacturing, and service industries. He currently serves as the Accounts & Administrative Manager at Sahel Consulting where he is responsible for ensuring the accounts and administrative team provide a range of services to support the organization including Financial Modelling and Reporting, Liquidity management, Grant management, and reporting, Tax advisory, and ensuring the day-to-day running of firm operations.
Before joining Sahel, Dolapo has worked in various consultancy capacities to provide a range of services including Financial modeling, Tax planning, and advisory engagement, Accounting system review, and auditing. He also worked with Adeyemi Ajibade & CO (Firm of Chartered Accountants) where He worked on providing audit and tax advisory services to clients in the manufacturing and service industries.
He holds a Bachelors’ degree in accounting and an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN). He also holds an ACCA Diploma in International Financial Reporting.
Bolaji is an Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) Professional with over 10 years of experience in providing technology solutions in the Agribusiness, Construction, and Financial sectors, and Creative Agencies. He currently serves as the ICT Manager where he is responsible for ICT Policy Development, Graphic Design, Network Management, Social Media Management, System Troubleshooting, Video Editing, and Website Management.
Prior to joining Sahel, Bolaji worked as an IT support officer with Skylinks Satellite Communications Limited; Digital Marketing Officer with Shixels Studios Limited; Digital Marketing Executive at Worldbay Technologies Limited.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Babcock University and has received certificates in professional courses including Desktop publishing, Network centred computing & Digital web authoring from NIIT; Web design & Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) on windows from GNT; Network Management from TTC Mobile; ITIL in IT Service Management from Axelos.
He is also a graduate member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM).
As the Senior Software Developer, Chukwuemeka handles the development of software processes for the Nourishing Africa platform. Using the latest practices and standards he works with the ICT and Programs team to develop features and structures on the hub. Chukwuemeka has over 7 years of experience as a web and software developer, working with digital marketing agencies, communications technology companies and the agriculture industry.
He holds a Bachelors Degree in Accountancy from American University of Nigeria, Yola and a Masters Degree in Information Systems from the University of Coventry. He is also a certified Web Foundations Associate from the Certified Internet Web Professionals.
"I'm passionate about contributing positively to solving problems using software and technology. This is at the centre of my work at Nourishing Africa.”
Oladunmade serves as the Membership Coordinator at Nourishing Africa, where he drives efforts aimed at growing membership, managing and engaging agribusiness entrepreneurs on the Nourishing Africa Hub. He also works to ensure that members are connected to suitable growth opportunities for their businesses. Oladunmade has multidisciplinary working experience gathered across consultancy and SME-focused fields, including working at KPMG Professional Services and start-up companies thereafter.
Oladunmade holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He was selected by the Tony Elumelu Foundation as one of the 1000 beneficiary entrepreneurs across Africa in 2016 for its flagship entrepreneurship programme.
“I am passionate about business being a force for good and being the development tool for transforming the African continent. Nourishing Africa’s focus on the agricultural sector which cuts widely across Africa as a major economic sector, provides a platform for creating lasting impact and shifting Africa from a dependent to a leading continent in the world.”
Henry is Nourishing Africa’s Communications Officer, a position he has held since joining the organization in September 2021. He manages the organization’s communication channels, including social media platforms, ensuring information flows freely between the organization and its internal and external audiences.
Henry is a communications professional with over 6 years of experience working in the profit and not- for-profit sectors. Prior to joining Nourishing Africa, he worked at Maandeeq Mental Health Without Boarders, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), M.P Shah Hospital, and Wananchi Group East Africa.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Public Relations from Moi University (Kenya) and a diploma in Journalism (Print Media) from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC), where he emerged the overall best graduating student in 2015. He is a full member of the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK) and a student member of the Computer Society of Kenya (CSK).
“I am passionate about using new media to drive conversations around Africa’s agricultural sector, and enabling SMEs access the required resources to scale.”
As a UI/UX designer, Rosemary creates user-centered interfaces and digital products that identify and reflects the needs of users on the Nourishing Africa platform. Using her design knowledge, she helps solve UI/UIX problems and eases the process of using our various online platforms.
Rosemary is completing a Computer Science degree at Yaba College of Technology.
"Design should not only be aesthetically pleasing, but it should also be usable and solve the intended problem"
A Software Developer with 5 years of experience in building scalable enterprise, fintech and e-commerce applications. Also a community builder with Google Developer Group Abuja, Laravel Abuja, and Meta Developer Circle Abuja. My tech stack includes SQL, PHP, Laravel, REST, Ionic.js, JavaScript and Vue.js. I have a diploma in Software Engineering and a Bsc. in Mathematics and Computer Science. I also have good leadership experience and continuously strive to improve my knowledge and skills to deliver quality solutions.