Mezuo Nwuneli
Mezuo Nwuneli
Mezuo Nwuneli is the managing partner, Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers Ltd., which manages FAFIN, a private equity fund that manages up to $65.9 million, and invests in mid-sized agribusinesses in Nigeria.[1]
Harvard Business School class day.
Mezuo Nwuneli and his wife Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli have become the first couple to deliver the keynote address on Harvard Business School (HBS) class day. The couple took the baton from Michael Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg L.P. and former Mayor of New York, who delivered the class day speech for 2019.
According to a news release from the Harvard Business School's newsroom in Boston:
Alumni Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli (MBA 1999) and Mezuo O. Nwuneli (MBA 2003), leaders in the African agriculture and nutrition landscape, will be Harvard Business School’s (HBS) Class Day Distinguished Speakers on Thursday, May 28, 2020.
Speaking to the students virtually from Lagos, the couple shared personal stories on how they met at Harvard University and how they have gone on to build successful businesses and non-profit — despite the odds.
Mezuo shared a personal story on how he was shot in 2007 and almost lost his life.
He said he feared he may never walk independently again, but through the crisis, he learnt immense lessons, which he shared with the class of 2020.
His wife Ndidi told the graduates about how unsettling it was to leave LEAP Africa to begin again in Senegal, where she neither spoke the language nor had a job. In the midst of the crisis, she reconnected with agriculture and birth Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd.
Mezuo called on the graduates to use their “talent, time and treasure” to improve the lives of others.
He advised the class to define their values early in life and stick to it.
He says:
“Define your values and stick to them.
Your success early in life can be destructive if you have not clearly defined your values, rooted in integrity and humility,”
“Character definitely has a currency; if people can count on you because they trust you, they would invest in you, support you, and call on you to serve as a trusted adviser and board member.
“Remain humble as you change lives and freely share the credit with others.
This not only builds trust but enable a broader group of people to have ownership in your vision and eventually to lead the movement themselves — freeing you up to take on the next challenge”.[8]
Personal
Mezuo Nwuneli is married to Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, MFR is a Co-Founder of Sahel Consulting.[2]
Career
Mezuo has had a 25-year career across private equity, Investment banking, and Corporate finance. Mezuo has worked extensively within the agribusiness sector in West Africa and across a broad range of crop value chains since 2010.
Mezuo started his career with the corporate finance team of the Sabre Group in Dallas in 1995, and then worked in JJ. P. Morgan’s mergers and acquisitions group in New York. He was previously a Partner at AFIG Funds, a private equity firm covering West and Central Africa; and also worked at SecTrust (Afrinvest) and Ocean & Oil Holdings. He is the Co-Founder/Chairman of AACE Foods, an ago-processing company; and is on the Board of directors of a range of companies in West Africa. He co-founded Sahel Capital in 2010.
Education
Mezuo holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School, and received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management, with a minor in Information Systems, from Carnegie Mellon University. [10]
Honors & Awards
Mezuo was selected as an Archbishop Tutu Fellow (2007) and is an Eisenhower Fellow (2015).