Anthonia Taiwo-Ajayi
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).
Bushirah AbdulRahman
David Ogwuche
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.
Dolapo Adeseye
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.
Emeka Mbachu
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.”
.jpeg)
Henry Nerious Dieto
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.”
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli (MFR)
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.
Nosa Obano
Odunayo Omotosho
Oladunmade Otitoola
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.”
Omobolaji Etti, ITIL
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).
Rahmat Eyinfunjowo
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.”
Rosemary Okoro
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"
Somadina Nwegbu
Mwihaki Muraguri
Principal, Paukwa
Principal, Paukwa
Mwĩhaki Mũragũri is a seasoned professional in development and philanthropy. Over the course of her career, she has worked in institutions dedicated to social change such as the Rockefeller Foundation, where she led the foundation's work in health and philanthropy in Africa, and the KCB Foundation, one of Kenya’s first corporate social foundations working across East Africa. In addition, she spent several years in the area of HIV and AIDS service delivery with Amref Health Africa, Africa’s largest homegrown health NGO. She has been a keen supporter of the growth of the philanthropic sector in Africa through various platforms. Throughout her career, the advancement of Africa has always been at the core.
A skilled speaker, writer, and project manager, Mwĩhaki’s passion for her continent led to the establishment of Paukwa House Limited in 2017. Paukwa – Swahili for the call of the storyteller – is a creative firm dedicated to bringing to using the art of storytelling to celebrate and spotlight the positive aspects of Kenyan history and contemporary life. Paukwa hosts a positive repository of online stories that showcases underappreciated parts of everyday historical and contemporary Kenya and curates these stories for both children and adults. Paukwa works across the globe with organisations and individuals, helping them articulate the story of their impact through advisory support, documentation, and storytelling training.
A wordsmith at heart, Mwĩhaki is happily based in her hometown of Nairobi, Kenya where she plays house with her husband and three children.
Paulo Gomes
Chairman, PGP and Partners and Co-Founder, New African Capital Partners
Chairman, PGP and Partners and Co-Founder, New African Capital Partners
Paulo Gomes has over 25 years of experience both in the public and private sectors. He has served at the very senior levels in multi-lateral development institutions, from the World Bank to the West African Development Bank (BOAD), and has worked with senior government ministers and heads of governments on key projects throughout the African continent. Within the private sector, he serves on the boards of major firms such as Ecobank, Asky Airline, and AFIG private equity fund. He also serves as an advisor to major CEOs and corporate boards. He played a critical leadership role in the development of several private sector initiatives such as the emerging West African Agricultural Development Corporation to be launched in 2012.
Paulo has developed a deep understanding of the political and economic issues facing Africa and the developing world in general, and has a good knowledge of macro-economic situations of the continent. He has extensive management skills and international experience. He has management experience in public sector, multilateral institutions and in the private sector as well. He also possesses strong technical and analytical skills having started his career in planning and management consulting. Paulo has coordinated and led major programs in addition to initiating several innovative competitiveness programs for his constituency as Executive Director for 24 African countries in the World Bank. Paulo has a keen passion for development and always makes a personal commitment to achieve set objectives and results.
He has advised several head of states, assisted a few of them to establish investment advisory bodies and served on international committees. Paulo has built an extensive network across Lusophone, Francophone, and Anglophone Africa as well as in Asia and Latin America. He is fluent in English, French, and Portuguese.
Una Osili
Associate Dean of Research and International Programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University
Associate Dean of Research and International Programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University
Una Osili is the Efrymson Chair in Philanthropy at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Una Osili is also the Associate Dean of Research and International Programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the world’s first school on philanthropy.
Dr. Osili has pioneered new approaches to using data to improving the understanding of trends in economic development and philanthropy. Her research is focused on household financial behavior across low-income and high-income environments. She has studied remittances from international migration, charitable giving, private transfers and education in both low and high income environment.
Osili leads the research and publication of Global Philanthropy Tracker and the Global Philanthropy Environment Index. The Global Philanthropy Indices are the leading source of global development and social innovation data trends and involve collaboration with more than 100 country and regional experts in 79 countries.
Osili has provided expert testimony at the Joint Economic Commission and the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee on philanthropy, international development and the role of the public sector. She has led collaborative research projects with global corporations and global institutions, and various government entities. Dr. Osili is a consultant with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and has worked on cross-sector initiatives on financial inclusion.
Osili leads the research and publication of Giving USA, the annual report on American philanthropy. Dr. Osili is the Founder of Generosity for Life – a digital platform that provides new data tools for financial decision-making in the area of philanthropy and social impact. She leads the School’s signature research project, the Philanthropy Panel Study (PPS). PPS is the most comprehensive study of the generosity of American families over time.
Una has significant governance experience and serves on the board of CARE, the Clowes Fund, the National Bank of Indianapolis, and the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) Board where she is a member of the Impact Investing committee.
Una received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University and her Master’s and Ph.D. from Northwestern University. The NonProfit Times named Dr. Una Osili to its 2020 and 2021 “Power and Influence Top 50,” recognizing her leadership in the philanthropic sector. Indianapolis Business Journal named Una ‘Woman of Influence’ and Dr. Osili, was appointed as a fellow for the Institute of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany.
Pierre Thiam
Excecutive Chef, Nok
Excecutive Chef, Nok
Pierre Thiam is a chef, author, and social activist best known for bringing West African cuisine to the global fine-dining world. He is the Executive Chef of the award-winning restaurant Nok by Alara in Lagos, Nigeria and the Signature Chef of the five-star Pullman Hotel in Dakar, Senegal. He is also the executive chef and co-owner of Teranga, a fast-casual food chain from New York City. He is sitting on the board of directors of IDEO.org, SOS Sahel USA, Corps Africa and he is on the Advisory Council of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). His company Yolélé advocates for smallholder farmers in the Sahel by opening new markets for crops grown in Africa; its signature product, Yolélé Fonio, is found in Whole Foods, Amazon, and other retailers across America.
Selena Cuffe
Founder, Heritage Link Brands and President, SodexoMAGIC
Founder, Heritage Link Brands and President, SodexoMAGIC
Selena Cuffe is the Founder of Vintner, Heritage Link Brands. In this position, she empowers critical, strategic initiatives that accelerate business outcomes and empower diversity and equity within the global wine industry. Her authority includes business transformation, digitization (AI & IoT), strategy, agile operations, change management, marketing, and corporate social responsibility. Ms. Cuffe is also President of SodexoMAGIC, a joint venture between U.S.-based Magic Johnson Enterprises and French food and facilities management company, Sodexo, Inc.
Ms. Cuffe leads the executive team of SodexoMAGIC, an industry leader in community-centric, Quality-of-Life services, serving 1.3 million consumers each day through facilities management, food, benefits, and rewards services. With $600M in annual revenues in the U.S. and Canada, SodexoMAGIC’s 5,000 employees in North America provide more than 100 unique services that improve performance at 1,400 client sites.
Prior to her current position, Ms. Cuffe was a Y-Combinator Top 100 leader, CEO of Heritage Link Brands, from 2007 to 2018, and instrumental in the commercialization of the South African Black Vintners Alliance, the House of Mandela, founded by Makaziwe and Tukwini Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s daughter, and granddaughter, and the acquisition of the Seven Sisters Vineyards, the only black, women-owned wine estate in South Africa. Ms. Cuffe led venture conceptualization, launch, and production of 70M liters of wine annually.
Prior to founding Heritage Link Brands, she was Director for the Council on International Educational Exchange, Assistant Brand Manager for the Procter & Gamble Company, where she managed the North America P&L and was responsible for $1B brand ringles’ U.S. multicultural and Latin America markets, Analyst for Merrill Lynch Asset Management, SEO Intern for Goldman Sachs, and INROADS Intern for Union Bank of California.
Ms. Cuffe is a passionate activist for local and global community. She is a Los Angeles County certified mediator, appointed by the Culver City Council to resolve landlord-tenant disputes. Selena sits on the Overseas Studies Advisory Council at Stanford University and is Vice President Emerita of the Global Alumni Board of Harvard Business School. Selena is a Director and serves on the audit committee for the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee for the Harvard Business School Women Student Alumnae Board, and an incoming member of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s 12th District Economic Advisory Council (01/22).
Ms. Cuffe was recognized as Black Enterprise Magazine’s 2010 “Entrepreneur of the Year” and has been recognized by the Restaurant Association, Beverage Media, CNN, Crain’s New York, ELLE, Essence, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, PBS, Time Magazine, and Wine Spectator.
Ms. Cuffe holds an AB in International Relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, with honors. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, fluent in Spanish, and conversant in Portuguese.
Lesego Serolong
CEO and Founder, Bokamoso Impact Investments
CEO and Founder, Bokamoso Impact Investments
Lesego Serolong Holzapfel is CEO and founder of Bokamoso Impact Investments, a social enterprise company that connects rural South Africa through agriculture and ethical food production. Lesego is also the co-founder of Raise the Children International, an organisation that connects vulnerable orphans from rural communities with education opportunities, mentors, and career opportunities.
Ony Mgbeahurike
Sr Brand Manager, Target
Sr Brand Manager, Target
Ony Mgbeahurike is a Sr Brand Manager at Target, where he leads the strategy and commercialization of new owned brands in the Home business unit. Also, Ony is an adjunct instructor at WashU Olin Business School, where he lectures MBA students on Africa Business Landscape, a course he co-authored as a student and later brought on to teach. He founded Good Soul Company – an Afro-centric food and beverage company with operations in Nigeria and the US. Ony launched Good Soul Company due to his passion for increasing food supply in Africa & expanding market access of African farmers & processors. Good Soul Company source, package and distribute Tigernuts from West Africa to the U.S with plans to expand into other African foods.
Ony has several years of experience in global consumer goods and retail kickstarting his career at General Mills, where he held a variety of roles in supply chain and marketing. He later joined Danone North America as a Brand Manager with $100M P&L responsibility and launched new products in Foodservice, Export, and U.S Retail markets.
He has co-founded many organizations, including WashU Olin Africa Business Club in St Louis, National Society of Black Engineers’ Twin Cities Professional Chapter, and BOLD – a Black Employee Resource Group at Danone North America. Due to his leadership and involvement in wherever the community he finds himself, Ony has won many awards, and honors including Top MBAs to Watch from Poets & Quants, and Rising Star Washington University in St Louis, amongst others.
Ony obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities focusing on Manufacturing Operations and an MBA from WashU Olin Business School with a concentration in Marketing.
Ijeoma Dike-Young
Chief Financial Officer, Indianapolis Public Library
Chief Financial Officer, Indianapolis Public Library
Ijeoma Dike-Young, MBA, is a certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over two decades of financial management experience in both the public and private sectors.
Ije is currently the Chief Financial Officer at the Indianapolis Public Library where she has led the Library in obtaining its first ever Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. In her professional life, she is been driven by integrity, process optimization and making a difference. While working with the City of Fishers, Ije was instrumental in the process which earned Fishers the distinction of being the only Indiana city with a AAA credit rating from Standard and Poor’s.
Ije, who started her finance career in the New York offices of Ernst & Young, has extensive financial management experience including long term financial and strategic planning, optimization of financial and internal control processes, bond financing, cash forecasting and investment management, regulatory compliance, SEC and public reporting, compensation analysis, capital planning, purchasing, insurance and employee benefit analysis.
Improving literacy and education in underserved communities is an area that Ije is passionate about. She is currently serving on the Audit Committee of the Indianapolis Public Schools and has volunteered her time on various projects and study committees with the MSD of Lawrence Township schools and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
Claudia Castellanos
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Black Mamba Foods
Claudia Castellanos is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Black Mamba Foods, a growing brand with a strong social and environmental ethos based in Eswatini that manufactures and distributes speciality food products in Southern Africa and overseas. Claudia has over 12 years of experience working as a marketing consultant for several business and NGOs in Eswatini and overseas, and as a lecturer for international universities such as the European School of Economics in Italy, and Mananga Business College Eswatini.
Claudia previously worked as a regional manager for SAIWA SPA, a former company of the Danone Group in charge of trade marketing and sales activities with the mail retailers of central Italy. She has also served as a trainer and mentor for Technoserve in Eswatini, and for several other business accelerator programmes.
Fred Zamble
Co-Founder & CEO
Seekewa
Fred Zamble is the CEO of Seekewa, an ag-tech startup based in Côte d’Ivoire. Seekewa provides a unique farm-to-table platform combining refundable e-vouchers and crowdfunding to allow people and organizations around the world to support small farming projects in Africa. He is a serial entrepreneur with a background in software engineering and has a passion for tech innovation and social impact.
Before Seekewa, Fred successfully started two companies: Neuropixels, a web agency providing cutting-edge web solutions for companies, and Digicraft LLC, a digital marketing agency based in the USA.
Lesego Holzapfel
CEO & Founder
Bakamoso Impact Investments
Lesego Serolong Holzapfel is the CEO and Founder of Bokamoso Impact Investments and Bokamoso Foods, social enterprises dedicated to connecting the impoverished rural populations of South Africa to opportunity. Lesego and her husband Neil founded Raise the Children in 2008. Lesego, being a South African orphan herself, has always had a deep desire to give back to the community that raised her and to mentor and empower the many that share her story. Lesego is passionate about agriculture and African leadership as part of core entrepreneurial drivers that she speaks and teaches about.
Modou N.S. Njie
Founder & CEO
Farm Fresh
Modou N.S.Njie is the Founder & CEO of Farm Fresh. Modou is an ICT expert with over 20 years’ experience as an IT Consultant for UNDP and Deloitte and two major banks in The Gambia. Over the past five years, Modou has been working as a social entrepreneur, starting up Farm Fresh in The Gambia. With a focus on promoting local produce and thereby securing income for local farmers and food processors, Farm Fresh has allowed Gambians from the diaspora to easily order fresh and healthy food for their families at home.
Moses Mallaghan
Founder & CEO
Agro Innova
Moses Mallaghan is the Founder and CEO of Agroinnovagh, an agri-tech company that provides technological services to local farmers. As a young Ghanaian entrepreneur, he is determined to improve farming and the use of digital innovation in Ghana.
Nkiru Okpareke
Co-Founder & CEO
Enviro Gro Farms
Nkiru Okpareke is the Co-Founder and CEO of Enviro Gro Farms, a company created to produce high-end vegetables for the Nigerian market. Nkiru has over 20 years of working experience, with a decade of that experience at ExxonMobil as a project and design engineer and project manager for infrastructure projects in Nigeria, the United States, Singapore, and France. She also worked as a human capital development expert and management consultant in Canada and Nigeria.
Olagoke Balogun
Co-Founder & CEO
So Fresh
Olagoke Balogun is the CEO and Co-Founder of So Fresh, Nigeria’s pioneer and leading healthy food chain with over 10 locations in multiple cities in Nigeria. Olagoke is a graduate of biochemistry and has over 18 years of work experiences across different industries and functions. He is a strategy consultant and helps organizations to refine their strategic narrative, build scalable systems and structures, and develop operational and dynamic capabilities that helps them to build sustainable organizations that will outlive generations.
Olanike Majekodunmi
Founder & CEO
Nuts About Cakes
Olanike Majekodunmi the Founder and CEO of Nuts About Cakes Limited, a bakery which specializes in cakes, pastries and bread. Nike has over 14 years’ experience in the baking Industry and had worked in the e-payment industry for several years until she found her passion for baking. After leaving paid employment, she perfected her baking skills at a variety of baking schools both in Nigeria and the UK. She commenced building her dream company in 2007, which currently employs over 140 people. Nike is also a business coach, guiding young entrepreneurs in starting up businesses of their own. Her passion for the empowerment of young women drives her training programs, as she helps them grow to their full potential.
Sakina Soukrat
Manager & Director
Technobiz Sarl
Sakina Soukrat is a seasoned agriculture professional with 30 years’ experience in the agricultural sector. Over the years she has garnered extensive experience in micro propagation (in vitro) techniques across various species, development of economic models for certified seed production and implementation of seed production projects. An agronomist engineer by training, she currently manages Technobiz Sarl, an organization engaged in agricultural production and seed marketing, consulting in micro propagation and seed production in Morocco.
Sunday Silungwe
Co-Founder & Director
Good Nature Agro
Sunday Silungwe is the Co-Founder and a Director at Good Nature Agro. Good Nature Agro partners with smallholder farmers to improve their productivity through soil-enriching legume farming, and links them to high-value legume markets. Sunday leads Good Nature’s growth strategy and has a natural flair for innovation, combined with training and experience.
Mastercard Foundation - Young Africa Work
Mastercard Foundation work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion for people living in poverty. The Mastercard Foundation's new strategy, Young Africa Works, outlines how, over the next decade, they will focus on finding solutions to the youth employment challenge and reducing poverty in Africa. When young people can secure formal work and a steady wage their lives improve.
Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited
Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited is committed to transforming Africa's agriculture and nutrition landscape. Sahel partners with government agencies, private sector companies, and leading international development organizations to provide agricultural value chain analysis, shape agricultural and nutrition policies, create catalytic ventures, and implement ecosystem solutions.
Afrexim Bank
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations.
United States African Development Foundation (USADF)
The U.S. African Development Foundation is an independent U.S. government agency established by Congress to invest directly in African grassroots enterprises and social entrepreneurs. USADF’s investments increase incomes, revenues, and jobs by promoting self-reliance and market-based solutions to poverty. USADF creates pathways to prosperity for marginalized populations and communities across Africa.
Africa No Filter
Africa No Filter supports the development of nuanced and contemporary stories that shift stereotypical and harmful narratives within and about Africa.
Segal Family Foundation
At Segal Family Foundation, they believe in a world where development is steered by grassroots leaders and power is shifted into the hands of communities. Segal Family Foundation works across Sub-Saharan Africa and strives to be true partners to our grantees. Segal Family Foundation wants to change the power dynamics inherent in traditional philanthropy and prove that a new, more equitable, and responsive approach is not only more fair, but more effective.
African Leadership Academy (ALA)
African Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing and connecting a new generation of young leaders who will lead the continent towards lasting peace and shared prosperity for all.
The mission of ALA's Network is to create the support structures and programs that will catalyse this network of young leaders to take ownership of their shared mission and collaborate with each other and with program partners and friends of ALA to catalyse transformational change on the continent. The Networks team at African Leadership Academy will drive this work and willl achieve this through 3 main offerings: University Support, Professional Development and Sector Communities.
.jpg){kind=logo}
Aceli Africa
Aceli Africa is a market incentive facility to mobilize over $600M in private sector lending for agricultural SMEs in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda by 2025. To achieve this goal, Aceli Africa expects to provide $40M in financial incentives over the next five years to increase the risk appetite of 20+ global and local financial institutions to make loans ranging from USD $25K-$1.5M to inclusive agricultural SMEs. Financial incentives have been designed based on an original dataset that Aceli Africa gathered and analyzed in collaboration with Dalberg Advisors. Aceli will also facilitate technical assistance to expand the ability of high-potential SMEs to qualify for and manage financing as well as capacity building for lenders to serve this market. Over the next five years, Aceli aims to catalyze a more competitive lending market for agri-SMEs and demonstrate a model that can be scaled up in East Africa and beyond.
First City Monument Bank (FCMB)
First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) is a member of FCMB Group Plc, which is one of the leading financial services institutions in Nigeria with subsidiaries that are market leaders in their respective segments.
FW Africa
FW Africa has grown from originally publishing one magazine to developing some of Africa's most impactful B2B trade events, consultancy and training and market research services. Their services are targeted at the senior business leaders who are responsible for making some of the most important decisions in the sub-Saharan Africa region.
Milken Motsepe Prize (Milken Institute)
The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that helps people build meaningful lives, in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities.
The Milken-Motsepe Prize in AgriTech competition awards USD $2 million in total prizes for innovative solutions to increase economic value to farmers in Africa.
Food For Mzansi
Food for Mzansi is a South African agricultural news and lifestyle publication. The publication is an initiative to introduce the world to the unsung heroes of the agricultural industry. Food for Mzansi unashamedly shares success stories and good news from the farms and agri-businesses who feed South Africa. In the last three years, it has won 11 global media awards, including Africa’s best digital news start-up.
Generation Africa
The Generation Africa movement seeks to inspire a next generation of African entrepreneurs, connecting them to the resources they need to move their businesses successfully from idea to scale. Generation Africa will also draw attention to opportunities for technological innovation and disruption in the agri-food sector, increase access to diverse forms of finance along the entrepreneur’s journey and strengthen the continent-wide agenda for youth entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector.
Invest In Africa
Invest in Africa (IIA) is focused on job creation and improving the business environment for both investors and local SMEs. IIA aims to increase the linkages between large international and domestic companies and smaller local business and increase access to skills, markets and finance.
Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN)
The Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN) is a global initiative supporting the scaling and replication of inclusive business models. IBAN manages an innovative online knowledge platform on inclusive business and offers a focused Capacity Development Programme for policymakers and investment seeking companies in developing and emerging countries.
Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF)
The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) was established by The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund Law 2016 to provide financial support to residents of Lagos State, to tackle unemployment through job and wealth creation. LSETF focuses on promoting entrepreneurship by improving access to finance, strengthening the institutional capacity of MSMEs and formulating policies designed to improve the business environment in Lagos State. In addition, the Fund also develops programmes designed to train and place unemployed Lagos residents in jobs; while also focusing on programmes designed to drive innovation within the Lagos ecosystem.
Sterling Bank PLC
Sterling Bank Plc is a full service national commercial bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The bank provides services to individuals, small businesses (SMEs) and large corporations.
Nigeria Agribusiness Register
The Nigeria Agribusiness Register is an enabler project established to attract, facilitate and operationalize agribusiness investments in Nigeria and West Africa.
EDC SME Toolkit
The Enterprise Development Centre's SME Toolkit provides SMEs with free online key business management information, interactive tools, and training resources aimed at helping SMEs grow.