Cosmas Maduka is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. He is the Chairman and CEO of the Coscharis Group. There are so many lessons to learn from an uneducated man who pulled himself out of poverty and became a billionaire simply by working hard and believing in himself.
The 65-year old is a mentor to many and can be seen as a man who has the interest of the youths at heart. This can be reflected in the story he shared during Stanel Youths Empowerment Master Class held at Stanel Dome in Awka of how he empowered 39-year old Stanley Uzochukwu, Chairman and owner of Stanel Group with a business start-up capital of N150m and made him one of Nigeria’s youngest billionaire.
Maduka began his entrepreneurial journey at the age of six, two years after his father died. He dropped out of primary school and started hawking Akara to support his mother.
Maduka formally ventured into business at the age of 17 after being wrongly dismissed with the sum of N200 by his uncle who had earlier engaged him as an automobile apprentice. He co-founded a spare parts company known as CosDave with his friend named Dave. The startup also failed sooner than expected and Maduka went on to found Coscharis Motor with the sum of N300 which focused on sales of automobile spare parts in 1977.
Maduka said his company’s name is a combination of his first name, Cosmos, and his wife’s, Charity, whom he married when he was just 21 years old.
Maduka’s business breakthrough started in 1982 when the Nigerian government granted 10 motor companies import licenses, for which Coscharis was selected. Today the Coscharis Group is a conglomerate with a net worth of $500m with several subsidiaries including Manufacturing, ICT, Petrochemical, Auto care and Auto Components, Automobile Sales and Services, Agric, and Agro Allied business sectors. Coscharis Motors is a leading distributor of several brands of luxury cars including Range Rover, Ford, and Jaguar.
In 2015, Coscharis Motors became the sole distributor of the BMW in Nigeria and the first company to build an Assembly Plant for the Ford Ranger in Nigeria and won the Auto Brand of the Year at the Marketing World Awards held in Ghana. In 2016, Anambra State approved 5000 hectares of land for Coscharis Farms to cultivate rice, the project has been reported to generate 3000 jobs upon completion.
The Coscharis Group is rated one of the top 50 brands in Nigeria by Top 50 Brands Nigeria. Maduka attributed his success in business to his affiliation with the Japanese.
The Coscharis boss said his early close contact with the Japanese made him develop the values of commitment, humility, precision, and hard work which were fundamental to his success in business. Cosmas Maduka sits on the board of several reputable companies and organizations. He served as a Director in Access Bank Plc., one of the leading banks in Nigeria for 12 years, from 2000 to 2012.
In 2015, Maduka was featured in Forbes Africa TV Series “Worst Day with Peace Hyde” and was estimated to be worth $500million USD and was also reported to have been swindled the sum of N21bn by Ifeanyi Ubah of Capital Oil and Gas in a business transaction. Maduka has also appeared in CNN Marketplace Africa interview by Zaner Asher.
He lost his wife, Charity Maduka in 2021. She was 63 years old. They have four sons and a daughter.
