She is a Nigerian entrepreneur and investor with experience across asset management, infrastructure finance, consumer retail, food innovation, and agriculture policy. For over 20 years, Osakwe has developed a unique blend of public and private sector experiences, starting in investment banking, development finance, and private equity before moving on to public service.
Ada is an strong advocate for entrepreneurship, youth development, women empowerment in business, and food systems sustainability and resilience. She is the Founder of Agrolay Ventures and Nuli Foods, platforms that drive food systems innovation in Nigeria. Osakwe has played key roles in shaping agriculture investment policy in Nigeria and across Africa, including as Senior Advisor to Dr Akin Adesina, Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture.
She serves as a board director and senior advisor to multiple private and non-profit organizations, including AGRA, African Development Bank, IMC Plantations, and the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund. She is the Board Chair of One Acre Fund and Delta 40 Ventures, and Investment Committee member of the Financing for Agricultural SMEs (FASA “) Fund.
Osakwe is the Forbes Africa Business Woman of the Year 2021. She is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow. Consecutively, from 2016 to 2021, Choiseul/Forbes Africa listed her as one of the Top 100 Africans contributing to economic impact on the Continent. She has received the Entrepreneur of the Year and Achiever in Agriculture Awards and was listed as one of Forbes 20Youngest Power Women in Africa.
She holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, an MSc in Economics and Finance from the University of Warwick, and a BSc in Economics (1st Class Honours) from the University of Hull.
