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.
A Woman with vision
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”.
Through LEAP, she has been invited to speak at the United Nation’s Commission for Social Development, the World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative
Ndidi Nwuneli Biography
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.
Ndidi Nwuneli is married to Mezuo Nwuneli, co-founder of Sahel Capital and AACE Foods. They are blessed with a boy and a girl.
Early Career of Ndidi Nwuneli
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.
Consulting Guru
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.
Back to Nigeria
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.