Sahel Consulting Announces Key Leadership Appointments

Sahel Consulting is delighted to announce the appointment of Aisha Hadejia and Agbara Chinedu, CFA as new Partners, Mr.Mezuo Nwuneli as the new Board Chair, and the addition of Mrs.Binta Max-Gbinije to our esteemed Board of Directors.

These appointments underscore our commitment to diversity in leadership and governance excellence. With these key leadership additions, we are confident that Sahel Consulting is poised for continued success and impact in Africa's food and nutrition landscape.

Aisha Hadejia joined Sahel in 2021, bringing a wealth of expertise in public health and gender and a passion for policy development and implementation to our team. Aisha’s social development journey began as a Health Communication Coordinator at the Society for Family Health, focused on enhancing access to health care and nutrition services for women and children. In 2017, she joined Girl Effect Nigeria, where she worked with multiple development organizations to advocate for women’s economic empowerment and improve girl’s access to technology, information, and healthcare.

?At Sahel, Aisha leads strategic consulting and development initiatives to enhance the capacity of public sector actors to formulate and implement innovative and inclusive policies that will increase the productivity and income of food producers, create job opportunities, and improve the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers. She has also led and supported our gender work in food systems.

Aisha holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Leeds, UK, a Master’s degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and an MBA from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. In 2023, she was recognized as a Leading African Women in Food Fellow (LAWFF) by the African Food Changemakers. She is also a Gender Responsive Agriculture Systems Policy (GRASP) Fellow, an initiative of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD).

Chinedu Agbara joined Sahel in 2020 with a wealth of experience in corporate finance and a passion for scaling agribusinesses. He started his career at a leading financial institution, where he structured capital raises for SMEs and initiated and participated in successful negotiations with management, union leaders, and diverse stakeholders of private and public organizations. He also consulted for a family business in Madrid, Spain, and led branding campaigns that engaged stakeholders from different cultural, language, and ethnic backgrounds.

At Sahel, Chinedu leads several strategic consulting projects and development programs focused on catalyzing inclusive growth and strengthening farmer networks and innovative agri-business start-ups. He currently leads the Collaborative Seed Program, which is focused on building a functional seed sector in Nigeria. Chinedu holds a postgraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, a Masters’ degree in Advanced Finance from IE Business School, Madrid, Spain, and is a Charter holder with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute in Virginia, USA.

In addition to welcoming new Partners, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr. Mezuo Nwuneli as the new Chair and the addition of Mrs. Binta Max-Gbinije as a new member of the Board of Sahel Consulting.

Mr. Mezuo Nwuneli is the Managing Partner of Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers, a food and agribusiness-focused private investment firm that invests across sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to founding Sahel Capital, Mezuo held roles at J.P. Morgan & Co., Ocean and Oil Holdings, and AFIG Funds. He is a non-executive Chairman/Co-Founder of AACE Foods, a Nigeria-based food manufacturing company; serves on the boards of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) and the Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, Nigeria (PEVCA); and serves as an independent director at Hygeia HMO Limited and First World Communities Limited. He is an Eisenhower Fellow and an Archbishop Tutu Fellow. He holds a Masters' in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School and received a Bachelors' degree in Industrial Management, with a minor in Information Systems, from Carnegie Mellon University. He was honored by Harvard Business School in 2021 with its distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.

Sahel Capital currently manages two funds: Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (“FAFIN”), which has investments in SME agribusinesses in Nigeria, and Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (“SEFAA”), which provides primarily structured debt to agribusiness SMEs across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mrs. Binta Max-Gbinije is the Chief Executive Officer of BMG Seven Limited, a boutique consulting firm focused on supporting private sector clients with business development and training on how to add value to their portfolios. With over three decades of expertise spanning strategic leadership, banking, private sector engagement, and corporate governance, Binta brings a wealth of knowledge to our board. She was the pioneer Chief Executive for Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited, where she led the team to establish a business that remains a market leader today. She was at various times a pioneer Head of Expert Banking, Head of Commercial Banking & Public Sector Group at Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Pioneer Head of Wealth Management at FBN Capital Limited, and Head of Treasury Marketing at then MBC International Bank.

As an astute board member, Binta sits on boards of social impact organizations, which enables her to deliver on her interest in women's empowerment. She was an Executive Council Member of Women in Business, Management & Public Service (WIMBIZ), the Chairperson of Stanbic IBTC Blue Women Network and vice President of the Association of Corporate Trustees of Nigeria. She was, until 2022, an Independent Director on the Board of Access Pension Fund Custodian (a member of the Access Bank Group), and until 31st December 2023 was on the Board of ChamsMobile (Chams PLC). She currently sits on the Boards of E-Tranzact Nigeria Plc, Nestle CPFA, and the Goldcrest Family Centre. She is an independent Chairperson of the Investment Committee at Mutual Funds of the Coronation Asset Management Limited and a member of the International Board of the Institute of Business Transformation Africa (IBT Africa).

Join us in congratulating Aisha and Chinedu as new Partners, Mr. Mezuo Nwuneli as the new Board Chair, and welcoming Mrs. Binta Max-Gbinije to the Board of Sahel Consulting.

We look forward to celebrating their impact and successes in the years ahead!

Best wishes,

Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli

Chair, Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd.

African Food Changemakers Sahel Capital Wageningen University & Research International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Gates Foundation USAID Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) 萬事達卡 Catholic Relief Services TechnoServe World Vegetable Center - East and Southeast Asia Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture Arla Foods SNV