Celebrating Ndi-Igbo

Phillip Ihenacho has 20 years of corporate finance and consulting experience. He is currently Chairman of Seven Energy, a leading independent oil and gas company in Nigeria that was bought out from Weatherford, the NYSE listed oil and gas services company. Phillip was previously CEO of UBA Capital Europe Ltd (formerly Afrinvest UK) and is a co-founder of the premier West African investment bank, Afrinvest West Africa. Phillip has been active in the African telecommunications, financial services and oil & gas industries for more than 12 years. During the course of the last several years, he has been involved in capital raising and acquisition advisory mandates in Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire, on behalf of multinational and regional telecommunications companies, oil and gas companies, and financial institutions. Prior to Afrinvest, Phillip worked for McKinsey & Co. in New York, London, Stockholm and Johannesburg. While at McKinsey he worked primarily in corporate finance-r...

One to watch Kelechi Anyadiegwu (@KelechiUjuu) is the founder of Zuvaa. Zuvaa creates a unique social shopping experience that connects customers all over the globe to African style. Zuvaa also offers unique products from around the world as well as a community that embraces and engages the customer through meaningful cultural stories about each designer. She started Zuvaa to fill a void she saw in the African Fashion Industry, a place for affordable, ethically made, African Inspired Pieces. Kelechi is a also social media and community engagement expert, having worked on a wide range of projects and clients, from EA Sports to the Microelectromechanical Systems Sensors Trade Association. She has also the founder of JELYPals, which is an edtech startup that seeks to use education and technology to create bridges in the African Diaspora. Source: Inc Magazine

Blossom is currently the technical Assistant on New Media to the Honorable Minister of State, Petroleum Resources at Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Abuja, Nigeria. Rose blossom who prefers to be called Blossom, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Management from the Coventry University, United Kingdom where she graduated with a Second Class Upper Division; Professional Certificate in Public Relations from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Professional Diploma in Public Relations from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, a member of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management; and an Advanced Certificate in Journalism from the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas where she graduated with a Distinction. She joined the services of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on 5th March 2007 as a Graduate Trainee and currently works as the Technical Assistant on New Media to the Honorable Minister of Stat...

Catherine Uju Ifejika is chairman and chief executive of the Britannia U Group, a group of oil and gas companies. The Company is an indigenous and Integrated Oil & Gas Company, incorporated on 4th December, 1995 under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Company has Upstream (Exploration & Production), Downstream, (Supply & Trading), Shipping and Sub-Surface Engineering Affiliate Companies. Recently her business bought a stake in a major oil and gas field, Ajapa. The reserves, according to Britannia, are worth $4.3bn A lawyer by profession, Mrs Ifejika previously worked in the oil and gas industry for 20 years in Texaco, which later merged with Chevron, rising from junior counsel up to regional company secretary before retiring early to focus a building an enterprise for herself. She is a graduate of Queens College Enugu and Ahmadu Bello University.

One to Watch Dedicated to the cultural preservation of the African aesthetic, Yagazie Emezi began her website yagazieemezi.com - as a project to locate young and upcoming photographers with the intent of providing a platform that showcases their work and points of view of Africa. This is part of a concerted effort to encourage the creative arts movement within Africa and the Diaspora, to provide us with spaces to tell our own stories, support our creative entrepreneurs, and view ourselves through our own lenses. With a dual degree in Cultural Anthropology & Africana Studies, Yagazie embarked on this journey to not only curate our existing culture and the talent of our youth, but to also emphasize the necessity of a habit of cultural preservation among us that goes beyond documenting only past and traditional practices. Our culture is NOW. With contributing photographers based in Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, U.S and Germany and with varied backgrounds, thi...

Ifeyinwa Maureen Okafor is a first class graduate of law from the University of Bradford, UK with an MBA from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. An alumnus of Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership, University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, she currently works as a Lagos based industrialist and is married with three children. Her background experience spans several sectors including Aviation,Banking and Manufacturing. She is also a fellow of ICAN, ICSAN; a member of IoD and CIBN. She has won several local and international awards including the prestigious 2014 Woman Achiever Award of The International Federation of Women Lawyers Born on the 31st of December 1969, Ifeyinwa is a native of Ehime- Mbano Local Government Area. She is also an aspirant for Imo State Governor.

Mrs. Nwando Ajene is the Head of Corporate Communications for the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Prior to assuming this role, she served as the Business Development Director for EXP, supporting fast moving consumer goods companies to develop strategies for attracting and retaining their customers. Mrs. Ajene also spent over six years in a range of roles for leading global companies including ABN AMBRO, Quaker Oats, and Northern Trust Bank in the United States. Mrs. Ajene is a graduate of the University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies where she obtained a Degree in Integrated Marketing Communication, and DePaul University, where she obtained a Bachelors of Commerce in Marketing Degree.