Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is a social entrepreneur, author and speaker. She is the co-founder of Sahel Consulting, a private equity and investment advisory firm. She has effected changes and shaped agriculture policies and strategies in West Africa through Sahel. Ndidi Nwuneli and her husband, Mezuo Nwuneli founded AACE Foods, an agro-processing company that gets produce from smallholder farmers and process them for the local market.
Her vision is to contribute to the transformation of Africa which led her to create LEAP; Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability and Professionalism. LEAP creates a new generation of responsible, dynamic and visionary leaders who will transform Africa.
According to her profile on the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association, she believe that it is no longer sufficient to leave a trail and hope that others will follow. In her words, “We must actively pull others along by making time to mentor, coach, partner and support causes which allow us to express our passions and more importantly change lives”.
Ndidi Nwuneli was born on the 22nd of March, 1975 at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Her father Paul Obuekwe Okonkwo is a professor of Pharmacology and her mother, Rina Okonkwo an American Professor of History.
Ndidi attended University Primary School, Enugu and Federal Government College, Enugu. She completed a bridging program which combined her final year in high school with freshmen year of college at Clarkson School in Potsdam, New York.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in Multinational and Strategic Management from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and MBA from Harvard Business School.
In her junior year at University of Pennsylvania, Ndidi Nwuneli worked as a summer Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company, New York. After graduation, she returned to McKinsey & Company as a Business Analyst working out of Chicago, Illinois and also Johannesburg, South Africa.
In 1998, she accepted the position of Lead Consultant with The Center for Middle East Competitive Strategy, a non-profit organisation founded by Professor Michael Porter. In the role, she was responsible for consulting for Palestinian and Israeli businesses, making recommendations for decreasing transaction cost and increasing trade for the companies across the region.
In 1999, Ndidi Nwuneli served as the Lead Consultant for The Ford Foundation on a project focusing on Nigeria’s largest microcredit institutions, COWAN and FADU. The same year, she rejoined McKinsey and served on the client service teams where she consulted for consumer goods companies and large American retailers.
In 2000, she resigned from McKinsey & Company and returned to Nigeria. In Nigeria, Ndidi Nwuneli became the pioneer Executive Director of FATE Foundation, a non-profit organisation created to promote wealth creation and encourage entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
Ndidi Nwuneli is very passionate about unlocking the west African potential in agriculture and this is the reason behind her co-founding AACE Food with her husband. AACE Foods is an indigenous Nigerian company established in November 2009. The company processes, packages and distributes nutritious and tasty food made from the best of West Africa’s fruits, herbs, vegetables and cereals. Product line of AACE Food include spices, spreads, sauces and complementary food that excite and satisfy institutional, commercial and retail customers.
Three things drove Ndidi to start AACE Foods. First is a 2008 report that shows that 41% of children under the age of 5 are stunted, 14% are wasted while 23% are underweight. The second reason is the estimates from researchers at the University of Agriculture Abeokuta. They estimated that 40-60% of the fruits and vegetables grown and harvested across the country are wasted because of lack of infrastructure to bring the produce to market. Finally and sadly, 90% of processed food consumed in Nigeria are imported because of safety issues.
ACCE Food have grown so much that they have moved to their own factory which has helped them scale up operations and sales. They have also expanded partnerships with smallholder farmers across Nigeria and is adding to their product line by including complimentary food products.
Ndidi Nwuneli also cofounded Sahel, a firm that is focused on unlocking Africa’s agriculture and nutrition potential. The company has two subsidiaries, Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers Ltd and Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Ltd.
Sahel Capital is filling a vital financial gap for the small and medium-sized enterprises in the Nigerian agricultural landscape. The firm provides investment capital and unparalleled services to agribusinesses and consumer-goods companies. The Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN) is Sahel Capital’s first private equity fund aimed to provide long term agricultural finance for SME’s in Nigeria.
Leveraging industry knowledge and network of field consultants in local communities, Sahel consulting provides in-depth market research on key value chains. They also develop specific market entry strategies for private sector companies interested in specific value chains. Sahel consulting also provides policy recommendation to governments and international development organisations who are engaged in the agriculture and nutrition sectors. They also engage in agribusiness training and educational seminars for SMEs and entrepreneurs who are interested in investing in agriculture.
Ndidi Nwuneli also founded NIA; Ndu, Ike, Akunuba in 2002, aimed at empowering young women to achieve their highest potential. Ndu, Ike and Akunuba are Igbo words which means Life, Strength and Wealth. Its focus is to change the mindset of women to realise that with hard work and discipline, they can achieve whatever they put their mind. At NIA, young women have access to mentors who have achieved a good level of success. Since it’s inception, it has worked in over five universities in southeast Nigeria.
Ndidi Nwuneli is also an author and speaker. Based on her experience working at LEAP, AACE FOODS, and Sahel Capital, she wrote a book titled, “Social Innovation in Africa: A Practical Guide for Scaling Impact”, published by Routledge in 2016.
