In a recent report by the Gates and Melinda Foundation, 41% of women in Nigeria are entrepreneurs, compared to only approximately 10% in the US and 5.7% in the UK.
On this week’s edition of founder’s profile, we take a look at one of Nigeria’s finest female entrepreneurs, Dr. Stella Chinyelu Okoli, Founder of Emzor Pharmaceutical, and a woman who has not only engrained her name and company on the minds of Nigerians, but also carved a space for herself in history as a businesswoman of repute.
Early Life and Background
Stella was born in the ancient city of Kano, Northern Nigeria, in 1944 to the family of Felix Ebelechukwu and Margaret Modebelu from Nnewi, Anambra State.
She started her formal education in 1954 at All Saints Primary School in the industrial city of Onitsha, before proceeding to complete her secondary school education in 1964 at Ogidi Girls Secondary School (Ogidi is the birthplace of literary icon, Chinua Achebe).
Stella proceeded to the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom from where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy. This academic achievement was followed by a M.Sc. in Biopharmaceutics which she obtained from the University of London, Chelsea College in 1971.
Stella started her career at the Middlesex Hospital as a Ward/ Clinical Pharmacist, and later had a brief stint as a Pharmacist at Boots Chemist, London.
On her return home to Nigeria, she worked at Massey Children Hospital, Lagos before she joined a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, Park Davies Nigeria Ltd (now Pharma-Deko Plc), as a medical representative and later as a sales manager.