ONE enters its next chapter with first African CEO at the helm
Nwuneli has been a consultant, a business leader, and an agricultural expert. And now, she's the first African leader at the Washington, D.C.-based ONE.
By Elissa Miolene // 19 June 2024When approached to lead one of the world’s most influential advocacy organizations, Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli’s first thought was: I am not the right person for this. The 49-year-old entrepreneur had held many titles. A founder. An agriculture expert. A businesswoman. A nonprofit leader. But to become president and CEO of ONE? At first, Nwuneli wasn’t so sure. “I’ve always admired ONE’s work, but I just thought it wasn’t for me,” she said. “Then I started reflecting on what I’d been doing in Africa, and the urgent need for African voices to be on the global stage. And that’s what lured me to go through the process.” By early April, the Nigerian-born Nwuneli became the first African leader in ONE’s history. She now heads up a 110-person organization focused on ending extreme poverty and preventable diseases through its two arms: the ONE Campaign, which raises awareness, and ONE Action, which engages in direct lobbying of governments and other donors. “This is really an opportunity to ensure we work with African leaders to have a shared vision about what Africa wants, not what the world thinks we need,” she told Devex, speaking from her new home base in Washington, D.C. Nwuneli’s arrival is one of many recent changes at ONE, which had more than $20 million in total revenue according to its 2022 financial statements. Last year, ONE was rocked by departures, layoffs, and a shift in strategy, one that placed African leadership, representation, and priorities into sharper focus. Irish rockstar Bono, who co-founded ONE in 2004, announced he’d be leaving the organization’s board in April. Gayle Smith, ONE’s longest-serving CEO, stepped down soon afterward, and Tom Hart, ONE’s president, did the same. ONE then eliminated some 30% of its staff, citing financial difficulties and a “competitive fundraising landscape.” Just two months after the cuts, Nwuneli’s tenure at the organization began — cementing a new chapter in ONE’s two-decade lifespan. “When she first told me about her new role, I thought: we are going to miss an icon in the food and agriculture sector in Africa,” said Temi Adegoroye, who worked with Nwuneli at a Sahel Consulting, an Abuja-based company Nwuneli launched over a decade ago. “But I also thought, this is a good thing not just for Ndidi, but for Africa. We have one of our finest on the continent leading ONE.” Opposing faces of Africa The daughter of two academics, Nwuneli grew up on a university campus in Enugu, Nigeria. Her father was a pharmacologist and her mother was a historian, and as a result, Nwuneli and her four siblings soaked up her American-born mother’s expertise — West African history — from an early age. She was also encouraged to volunteer, spending time at orphanages, with the elderly, and around her neighborhood. But more than anything else, Nwuneli was interested in the business of food. “My first financial transaction was taking avocados to the market to sell wholesale because we had a tree in our backyard,” she said. “I put them in bags, I took them to the market, and I sold them. I was 12 years old.” Nwuneli became the family’s queen negotiator, getting the best prices at their local market. She started tending her own garden — green beans and cucumbers — in the backyard. Nwuneli’s mother also took her to explore the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, which aims to create a more food-secure Africa by breeding resilient crops. “This is really an opportunity to ensure we work with African leaders to have a shared vision about what Africa wants, not what the world thinks we need.” --— Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, president and CEO, ONE “Just seeing the amazing things that science and innovation could do, and coupling that with a recognition that this industry could create jobs,” she said, drove home the fact that “Africa was a big contributor to the global food ecosystem, but most people didn’t realize it.” Nwuneli hoped to study business at the same university where her parents taught. But before she finished high school, a series of military coups shuttered classrooms across the region, leading Nwuneli to move to the United States. She headed to the University of Pennsylvania for her undergraduate degree and attended Harvard Business School for her master’s. At both institutions, Nwuneli tried to carry Nigeria with her, reviving the African students’ association at UPenn and launching an African-focused business conference at Harvard. Still, she was often surprised by the reactions from American peers — many of whom had written off Nigeria as ravaged by war, hunger, and poverty. It was a sharp contrast from the Africa Nwuneli knew: her backyard dotted with mango, cashew, and guava trees, in a region rich with history and culture. “The face of Africa was a hungry child, and the face of poverty was a female farmer from Africa,” Nwuneli said. “I recognized that I had to do something about that.” Sprouting businesses Nwuneli began her career at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where she focused on the food industry. But at age 25, she changed direction — moving back to Nigeria to help lead the FATE Foundation, which helps entrepreneurs start and scale their businesses. It was the first of her many leadership roles, with the second being at an organization of her own: LEAP Africa, a leadership development program focused on youth. Though the intersection of food and business remained an interest of Nwuneli’s, it wasn’t until a decade later that she circled back to the topic — a transition that happened after her husband, Mezuo Nwuneli, was shot in the knee after stumbling upon a car-jacking in Nigeria. Nwuneli had to care for her husband, their newborn daughter, and their 3-year-old son while leading LEAP Africa. Once Mezuo recovered, the family moved to Senegal for his new job. With no support network and limited French proficiency, Nwuneli had to start over. At first, she felt like the ground had broken apart beneath her. But by 2008, the rest of the world had changed, too. Food prices were skyrocketing in the wake of the global financial crisis, and food riots filled the streets outside Nwuneli’s home. So, the entrepreneur began working with international nonprofits, such as TechnoServe and Oxfam, to build out their agriculture strategies. “It was like a gift God gives you during difficult times,” Nwuneli added. “It was something I knew how to do.” She and her husband eventually started their own firm, Sahel Consulting, to support those focused on African agriculture — along with a private equity fund centered on the same topic. The following year, the two launched AACE Foods, an agribusiness that today, sources products from 10,000 farmers across Africa. And, she began African Food Changemakers, which helps food-focused entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized companies scale their businesses. “I’m always lost for words every time I talk about Ndidi,” said Adegoroye, who Nwuneli hired at the start of his career. In the years since Adegoroye went from being a manager to an associate partner to a managing partner at the company. “She has a very unique way of managing succession. … It’s a key testament to her own leadership qualities, and how she helps others learn to lead.” All of the organizations Nwuneli began are still running, despite her leaving the helm. Sahel employs some 60 consultants on the continent, she said, while AACE Foods has 150 staff processing spices, snacks, and flowers for the West African and export markets. The unlikely candidate By the time ONE reached out to Nwuneli, the entrepreneur had been in West Africa for more than two decades. ONE was looking to focus more sharply on Africa; she knew the continent inside and out. They wanted to better involve African leaders; Nwuneli was not only one herself but had a rich, extensive network of Africa’s biggest players. And when it came down to it, she said, agriculture played an essential role in the topics ONE cared about most: reducing extreme poverty and improving the world’s health. Tom Freston — the board chair of ONE, and the former CEO of Viacom’s MTV Networks — knew from the start that Nwuneli would be the right leader. “I interviewed 10 people for this position, with Ndidi being the very first. And she was a hole-in-one,” Freston told Devex. “After we had our first interview, I hung up the Zoom and just thought: Wow. She is really something.” While Nwuneli doesn’t have a background in straightforward advocacy, many say she’s an advocate in her own right — especially for those around her. Adegoroye described working under Nwuneli as feeling like “a student in an apprenticeship,” adding that she pushed him to go above and beyond what he thought was possible. “We wanted to stop being an advocate for Africa, which we have been, and start being an advocate with Africa,” said Freston. “So having a talented, networked, experienced, and skilled person like Ndidi just made fantastic sense.” ONE mission, many aims So, Nwuneli traded Lagos for Washington. She started looking for a place to live, one with enough space for her 20-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter to spend the summers. At the same time, she turned her attention to ONE, pushing forward the organization’s expanded focus on Africa. “This is really an opportunity to ensure we work with African leaders to have a shared vision about what Africa wants, not what the world thinks we need,” she said. That means taking a more Africa-focused approach to the issues that have long been ONE’s bread and butter, and transitioning the organization’s mission from ending extreme poverty and preventable disease for “everyone, everywhere” to that of today: “demanding the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa.” “Africa has always been at the center of ONE’s work and our new strategy puts African leadership and agency in sharper focus,” she added. “Africa’s demand will shape our campaigns and guide our delivery.” In concrete terms, that means pushing for the replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Association, or IDA, the fund that channels low-interest loans and grants to low-income countries. Doing the same to refill the pots of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Increasing support for the African Development Bank’s African Development Fund, which provides low- or no-interest loans to spur economic growth in the bank’s member countries. And regaining the United States’ long-standing — but now wavering — bipartisan commitment to the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. “By 2030, how should African governments be operating, and what should their relationship with international development finance be? … That means focusing on African agency.” --— Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli The throughline in all of that work, she said, includes pushing for more African representation at global decision-making tables, and encouraging more partnership between African leadership and the Group of Seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The organization advocated for the need for an African Union Seat at the Group of 20, and is supporting Kenyan President William Ruto — the first African president to visit the United States since 2008 — in his efforts to finance sustainable development on the continent. “Our focus is really on rethinking international development finance, and saying: By 2030, how should African governments be operating, and what should their relationship with international development finance be?” Nwuneli said. “That means focusing on African agency, African voice, transparency and accountability on funding flows, and being a bridge builder.” As for agriculture, food, and agri-business? Nwuneli said the organization is “not going to be sector-specific,” but that such topics are still part of the conversation. “I really believe food systems in the African context are critical to the achievement of ONE’s mission and vision, but we’re not saying we’re only focusing on agri-food systems,” she said. “We’re going to focus on the cross-cutting issues that will get us there.” To do that, Nwuneli said they have to start from within, especially in the wake of the changes that roiled the organization earlier this year. She wants to build a stronger team and a stronger board, Nwuneli said, and restore ONE’s confidence as an organization. At the same time, ONE will also focus on ensuring that African voices, organizations, and partners are involved in the conversation. “We’re healing as an organization,” she told Devex. “But what is galvanizing us is our vision for the future, what ONE can deliver, and the impact it can have.”
When approached to lead one of the world’s most influential advocacy organizations, Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli’s first thought was: I am not the right person for this.
The 49-year-old entrepreneur had held many titles. A founder. An agriculture expert. A businesswoman. A nonprofit leader. But to become president and CEO of ONE? At first, Nwuneli wasn’t so sure.
“I’ve always admired ONE’s work, but I just thought it wasn’t for me,” she said. “Then I started reflecting on what I’d been doing in Africa, and the urgent need for African voices to be on the global stage. And that’s what lured me to go through the process.”
This story is forDevex Promembers
Unlock this story now with a 15-day free trial of Devex Pro.
With a Devex Pro subscription you'll get access to deeper analysis and exclusive insights from our reporters and analysts.
Start my free trialRequest a group subscription Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.