Earlier this year, Ndidi Nwuneli received the most important honour at Harvard Business School: the Alumni Achievement Award. A serial social entrepreneur, Nwuneli’s portfolio of companies is geared towards changing the face and operations of agriculture in Africa. For a multi-faceted problem, she uses investments, products, consulting, words and media to influence change in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Nwuneli tells AMAKA what she has learnt in her 25+ years experience of building scalable and resilient businesses for a just and equitable future.
Nwuneli’s internationally recognised work as an entrepreneur, public speaker, consultant and author is driven by her faith and what she recognises as a calling from God to change the narrative of Africans as the face of hunger and poverty. Her portfolio of companies include: Sahel Consulting, which advises governments, NGOs and the private sector on agriculture and nutrition landscapes. AACE foods is a packaged foods retail company. Nourishing Africa is a digital home and database for agriculture entrepreneurs across 35 countries. LEAP Africa is equipping Africa’s youth with leadership and employability skills. Changing Narratives Africa is a communications and product gateway putting African foods on the map. She also serves on the board of various organisations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Nigerian Economic Summit. In deciding what business model works to achieve maximum impact, Nwuneli keeps these three questions front and centre: “Who are you serving? What is their capacity to pay? How sustainable is the model?”
The African Women Ecopreneurs You Should Know (Part 1)
AMAKA: Your work speaks for itself. So, what is that pain in the world that drives you to work every morning? Or perhaps it is less a pain, and more a vision of the world you feel called to realise?
Ndidi Nwuneli: I'm a person of faith. Everything I do wakes me up in the morning. I feel called by God to play a pivotal role in transforming Africa. One of the big issues I've taken on is food insecurity. Another is my commitment to changing the narrative that the face of poverty is an African female farmer, and the face of hunger is an African child. So, my mission is to create viable businesses and ecosystem solutions, and to lead global efforts to raise awareness about Africa's contributions to the global food ecosystem.
As a serial social entrepreneur, how do you decide what business model works for different needs in the industry?
You have to figure out whether your business model is sustainable and profitable, and that determines how you structure your business. When I started LEAP Africa 19 years ago, we realised that young people are often not able to afford leadership training, and development of their employability and entrepreneurship skills. So, it had to be subsidised from the onset and that's why LEAP is a non-profit. AACE foods was established as a for-profit private company because while training farmers, sourcing from them and making a difference in society, we needed to build a profitable business model that will enable the company to be sustainable and to drive its own growth without external donor funding. I always tell entrepreneurs to ask: “Who are you serving? What is their capacity to pay? How sustainable is the model?” These three determine what model to go for.
You founded two of your businesses, Sahel and AACE foods, with your husband. Many find working with family difficult and ill-advised. How have you made it work?
We decided to start these businesses together because we had complementary skills. My husband is an expert in finance, accounting and structuring deals. His background is investment banking and my background is strategy, marketing, and consumer goods from my time at McKinsey. If you are going to form a partnership, be clear about what each person is bringing to the table. There has to be mutual trust, mutual respect, and shared values and work ethic. The good thing is we don't argue with each other, if he makes a decision in finance, I respect that decision and vice versa.
But, it wasn't easy from the beginning. Very early on in our desire to work together, we went to seek help from other couples who have worked together successfully. One of them was Folu and Bose Ayeni of Tantalizers and they advised us to divide up the roles, “Don’t get into each other’s way.” With the issue of keeping work at work and away from home, that was especially a problem when the businesses were just starting because in the early days, we were working all around the clock. It is easier now that we have built teams and delegate more through partnerships, but we still work very long hours. I’m the wrong person to speak about work-life balance. But if God has called you to do it, it does not feel like work. I’m excited every day because God has a new assignment for me.
Misogyny, racism and the litany of -isms that define our current socio-economic landscape often pose obstacles to African women irrespective of industry. As an internationally recognised name in agri-business, how have you found navigating agri-business on a global level as a Nigerian woman?
Yes, on a global scale the industry is still largely dominated by white, older men. And so the challenge for us on a global stage, and for me particularly, has been how to build my credibility. For us women, when we come into every room, we have to come in with a commitment to excellence and integrity which has no hiding place. You prove yourself every single time, which is very exhausting, but really makes a difference.
From your vantage point as one of the key experts in the agriculture industry in Africa, what are the problems in the industry that will define the coming decades?
In terms of critical realities, the first is climate change. Seven out of the ten most affected countries are in Africa and Nigeria is in the top 20 countries most affected by climate-change-induced droughts and floods. An enabling policy environment will be critical to fielding this challenge. The promising trends are in innovation and technology and how they allow us to address productivity challenges around very high rates of post-harvest losses and infrastructure gaps in storage, processing, energy and transportation. Currently, 20 to 40% of our fruits and vegetables and 20 to 30% of our grains go to waste.
There are also tremendous initiatives around engaging youth and women in agriculture. Most young people think agriculture cannot earn them a living. Women are still discriminated against when it comes to financing. Female farmers generate 30% less than their male counterparts generate and female entrepreneurs make 60% less profits than their male counterparts. Africa’s share in global food trade is only 4%. Will we still export raw materials and import finished goods? I choose to be very optimistic about the sector in spite of the challenges. Sahel published a quarterly on this earlier this year here.
It is inspiring how you wear your faith proudly, particularly in the business world that insists on secularity. In your 2005 book ‘Working for God in the Marketplace’, you illustrate how the support and moral compass from your faith enables you to face the corporate world with courage. Has your journey with your faith in your career changed since you wrote the book?
Everybody's faith journey changes with experiences that test your faith. I think the most trying moment was in 2007 when my husband was shot in the knee in an attack, five months after his mother had died and nine months into my pregnancy. As a result, we moved to Senegal and it was in that difficult transition that God opened my eyes to see all the opportunities in the agriculture sector. I started doing consulting in agriculture and that's how Sahel Consulting was born and God laid the idea for AACE foods. If you are sensitive to the spirit of God, you open your eyes to see what God is doing at every point in time. Day by day, I’m cultivating the ability to hear His voice and to act swiftly in obedience to His call.
Your latest book ‘Food Entrepreneurs in Africa’ published earlier this year by Routledge gives research-and-experience-driven advice to aspiring African agri-entrepreneurs on how to build scalable, resilient businesses, brands and eco-systems in the industry. What are the key insights we need to know?
In the second chapter of the book, from interviewing over 80 entrepreneurs I come up with six components of business models for scaling. The first one is that your business has to be demand driven, not supply or donor driven, but driven by those who benefit most from the products and services. The second is that it has to leverage innovation technology. The third is that it has to have a simple and compelling message branding and story. Fourth, it has to engage in shaping policy and creating an enabling environment for the ecosystem. Fifth, it must have simple, cost-efficient systems and structures, low cost, cost efficient systems and structures are critical. Finally, it has to build in resilience in the DNA of the business model. COVID-19 was one shock many businesses did not survive. Climate change is a bigger shock and there will be more shocks.
What are your hopes for the future of Africa’s agriculture industry and what would be key to realising that future?
My company Nourishing Africa has this goal: by 2050, Africa will be a net exporter of food. We will have just and equitable food ecosystems, which leverage innovation and technology, and are driven by young entrepreneurs to ensure that we can feed and nourish ourselves and the world.The key words there are ‘just’ and ‘equitable’ so that nobody gets left behind. We have achieved success not when you and I can have three square meals a day, but when the most vulnerable can live to their full-potential because they are well-nourished.
Another key vision I have is a new narrative for Africa. Through my new company, Changing Narratives Africa, we are showcasing our entrepreneurs are changing the global food ecosystem and getting our food on to global shelves.
*Interview has been edited for length and clarity.