South Africa
January 12, 2012
AfricaBio is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Nompumelelo H. Obokoh to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AfricaBio, effective from the 1st of February 2011. Dr Obokoh is a Plant Molecular Biologist with a PhD degree from the University of Cambridge, Magdalene College, MSc degree in Plant Biotechnology, BSc (Hons) degree in Microbiology from the University of Pretoria, BSc degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Zululand.
She worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, researching on genome-wide expression profiling of genes associated with plant growth; a project funded through the Growth, Vigour and Environment (GVE) EU-FP 5 consortium. She also received the Rothamsted International African Fellowship, to identify molecular markers in drought tolerant cowpea mutant lines and was hosted by the then Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER, Wales). Dr Obokoh was employed by the Agricultural Research Council-Roodeplaat, Biotechnology Division as a Senior Researcher (Programme Manager) and managed a number of projects geared towards enhancing food security for small-scale farmers. In South Africa, she is registered as a Professional Natural Scientist (Pr.Sci.Nat.) in Biological Science and has served as a member of the subcommittee to the Advisory Committee of the GMO Act.
Dr Obokoh is a recipient of several awards and grants, including the National Research Foundation (NRF)/Royal Society (UK) Grant for South Africa-UK Science Networks, NRF-Focus Area Programme Grant, as well as the Overseas Research Student Award from the Committee of the University Principals, the Mandela Cambridge award from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust (CCT), PhD research award from the Institute of Biotechnology, and the Mandela Magdalene College award from the CCT.
Prior to her appointment, Dr Obokoh headed (Country Representative) the African Agricultural Technology Foundation’ (AATF), West Africa office located in Abuja, Nigeria, representing and overseeing its strategic operations in the region. She also managed the day to day activities of the Bt cowpea - the 1st ever confined field trials of cowpea genetically engineered to resist insect pests. Her portfolio also included the management of the nitrogen-use-efficient (NUE), salt tolerance and water-use-efficient (WUE) rice for Africa projects, liaising with key stakeholders (international financial donors, technology developers, policy makers, journalists, government ministries, research institutes, seed councils etc.), and building the necessary capacity to ensure successful development and deployment of Biotech-derived products.
AfricaBio is confident that with Dr Obokoh’s appointment, the organisation will have both the leadership and the capacity to build on its existing strengths and develop in new directions that will guarantee future sustainability and expansion for the organisation.
AfricaBio looks forward to your continued full support and collaborations in the coming years.
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