Living with a Purpose
Ikechukwu Sylvester Ofuani was born into the family of Deacon and Lady Evangelist Sylvester Odigwe Ofuani on the 20th of February 1979 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). A fourth child amongst seven siblings, he was determined to break barriers at a very tender age.
After his early years in Benin, he went on to attend the Lagos State University where he studied Law between 1998 to 2002. He was then subsequently called to the Nigerian bar in 2005 at the Nigeria Law School in Abuja. He possesses a Masters in Public Administration from the Lagos State University which he obtained in 2015.
After his call to the Nigerian bar in 2005, he carried out his compulsory youth service with British American Tobacco in Victoria Island in Lagos, where he worked in the Legal Department as a corporate attorney. He will then go on to work for a number of years more on contract before he left to join Stratquest Communications Nigeria as their Operations lead.
He transitioned to MTV networks Africa where he managed the Access bank Nickelodeon project for about six months and afterwards began his foray into the government affairs and stakeholder management world with the project between National Identity Management Commission and Tequila Nigeria which he managed across three geopolitical zones for a period of three years before being head hunted by Procter and Gamble Nigeria in 2013 to lead their Global government relations and public policy function for Nigeria.
In that role, he achieved critical milestones which saw him leading the function for West Africa in a noticeably short time. Today, he is the Worldwide Government Affairs and Policy Director for Johnson and Johnson with responsibility covering 15 Anglophone and Francophone West African countries, shaping their healthcare policy landscape and leading government and critical stakeholder engagements.
Ikechukwu Sylvester Ofuani is a Government Affairs and Public Policy practitioner with experience which cuts across the Sub-Saharan Africa region where he has gathered immense experience working with governments and critical stakeholders to influence and shape the policy ecosystem. He is a lawyer and also currently a board member of the Stockport Advocacy in England, where he volunteers his time by lending invaluable support to the board in providing governance and statutory advocacy guidance to the organization and all Stockport residents who meet The Care Act (2014) criteria.
He is a performance driven professional with 15+ years of continuous advancement in Global Government Affairs and Public Policy advocacy, Corporate Communications, Local/Regional Trade Facilitation and Project Management fields.
A member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, CHATHAM HOUSE (2016), He is passionate about shaping the policy ecosystem of the Sub-Sahara Africa region in the Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals and Fast-moving Consumer goods and manufacturing sectors. The topical areas he has developed expertise over the years ranges from Trading across borders, business integration and regulatory harmonization, Health regulations including Market Access (Healthcare/Infrastructure and Medical Devices regulations) to manufacturing and Consumer goods.
He has progressively recorded significant successes in key policy areas over the span of his career. Through engagements with external stakeholders, the organizations he supports have continuously been recognized as key partners by the Federal Government of Nigeria and similar organizations. A member of the Enterprise Focus Area on Trade, also his work supporting trade across the continent has seen him engaging high level with the AfCFTA Secretariat and multilateral organizations to shape critical Policy areas for trade across the continent.
He continues to support key business initiatives in the sub region, specifically stakeholder engagements revolving around shaping of the health and medical devices policy landscape.
In the health space of recent, his work has deepened into ensuring equitable access to vaccines for Low- and Middle-Income countries in the SSA region, whilst managing the relationships with regional bodies like the West African Health Organization, (WAHO), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the similar multilateral organizations on the continent.
Ikechukwu is married to Elizabeth Ofuani, and they are blessed with three beautiful daughters. When he is not travelling across Africa, in his spear time, he enjoys reading and learning to play the guitar.
