Nigeria’s Ndidi and Mezuo Nwuneli have become the first couple ever to give the keynote address at Harvard Business School’s class day.
Michael Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg who has served as Mayor of New York, delivered the class day speech for 2019.
Mezuo Nwuneli is the managing partner, Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers Ltd., that manages FAFIN, a private equity fund with over $65.9 million under management focused on mid-sized agribusinesses in Nigeria.
Ndidi on the other hand is managing partner of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd., and the founder of LEAP Africa.
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In a virtual address to the students, the couple outlined personal stories including how they met at Harvard University and how they have gone on to build successful businesses and non-profit — despite the odds.
Mezuo, a long-standing member of BusinessDay’s editorial advisory board which helps to shape the newspaper’s coverage, spoke of how he was shot in 2007 in Lagos where the couple lives and almost lost his life. He said he feared he may never walk independently again, but through the crisis, he learned immense lessons, which he shared with the class of 2020.
Ndidi told the graduates about how unsettling it was to leave LEAP Africa following the shooting 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.
“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,” Mezuo said.
“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 enables a broader group of people to have ownership in your vision and eventually to lead the movement themself — freeing you up to take on the next challenge”.
Ndidi told the class of 2020 how resilient, resourceful, and brave they are, calling on them to strengthen their relationships with family and friends while building a dedicated support network.
Citing an Igbo proverb, Ndidi who joined the board of directors of BusinessDay last year, said disasters help sift out the brave and resilient.
“HBS Class of 2020, no one would ever forget this year — not just because of the pandemic, but because of how humanity and members of the class of 2020 of the Harvard Business School were able to rise up to this challenge,” Ndidi said.
“An Igbo proverb states, ‘Mbelede ka eji ama Dike,’ which translates: ‘Disasters help to sift out the resilient, the resourceful, and the brave.’”
Mezuo and Ndidi met at the Harvard African Student Conference in 1993, while both were college students at different institutions, but returned to Harvard for their MBAs years later.
The couple co-founded AACE Foods, a food manufacturing company that sources from over 10,000 farmers and produces a range of packaged food products for local and international markets.
Ndidi has 25 years of experience in international development and serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, Godrej Consumer Products India, Fairfax Africa Canada, and the African Philanthropy Forum. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Mezuo has worked for 25 years in corporate finance, investment banking, and private equity. He was selected as an Archbishop Tutu Fellow and is an Eisenhower Fellow.
He is on the board of directors of a range of companies in Nigeria, and he earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University.