BI Mentor, Lucy Quainoo, Shows Just How Agriculture and Community Development Can Secure the Future
At Brighter Investment, we are on a mission to deliver the dreams of academically talented but financially handicapped Ghanaian students of a billion realities. We believe that by investing in high potential students to pursue degrees that yield amazing economic and social benefits for the student and their communities, we can make the world a better place. Agriculture is a study and career pathway that promises returns that will transcend the student and their families onto the communities and the continent as a whole. One of the amazing mentors on our mentoring program exemplifies just how rewarding a career in agriculture and community development can be.
Lucy Akua Kyerede Quainoo is a Global Goals Advocate and an Award-winning Consultant with over 17 years of experience in the Development Sector; specifically in the area of Management and International Business. She is the co-founder of the Agribusiness Value Chain Federation, MEL Business Solution Center, and Shea Naturals. She also doubles as a Management Consultant for Shinkaafa Buni Rice Farmers’ Association where she played a pivotal role in its formation in 2016.
As the Focal Person for the USAID FinGAP project at MEL Consulting Ltd between 2015 and 2018, she facilitated financing for many women aggregators and farmers which led MEL to become a top Business Advisory Services Provider under the Project.
She is a member of FAO’s Global Forum on Nutrition and Food Security; contributing to the global dialogue on topical issues under the theme. She is also a Leading member of EBAFOSA (Ecosystem-based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly) Ghana; a UNEP voluntary organization aimed at tackling Climate Change and Food Security issues.
Lucy holds an MBA in International Business and Management from the Hanze University, Groningen-Netherlands, and an MA in International Business from the Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom. She also has a B.Sc in Entrepreneurship from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra - Ghana.
She is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Chamber of Agribusiness, Ghana and also a Board Member at Agripool, Farmhaus Production Ltd, Business Advisory Services Providers(BASPAG) and Young Visionary Leaders Ghana. She is also an Independent Business Development Consultant for MNC Capital Advisors Africa; an Investment Advisory firm based in South Africa facilitating finance for SMEs and Financial Institutions in Sub Saharan Africa.
Lucy currently mentors on the Brighter Mentoring Program. Her assigned protegee is a student agricultural engineer who is currently undertaking his one-year national service at the KNUST Research Centre. Lucy is an amazing mentor who is enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge with the younger generation and women in particular.
She recently won the Most Influential Woman in Business and Government for the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Sector for Ghana and West Africa during the CEO Global Magazine SA’s Pan African Awards for 2019/2020.