Dr Nompumelelo Obokoh, is the Chief Executive Officer at AfricaBio, a non-profit organisation that promotes research as well as the use of Biotechnology and its products, in South Africa and the rest of the continent. She 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 also 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.
Dr Obokoh returned to South Africa in 2005, and 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.
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, 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 with AfricaBio, 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.
