BIOGRAPHY

Born in the US to Nigerian parents, Achenyo Idachaba spent her formative years between Nigeria and America, where she forged a successful career as a computer scientist and business analyst. Yet she always nursed the idea of going back to Nigeria. ‘I felt it would be good to come back here and do something that would impact lives sustainably.’ In 2009, she finally decided to take what she calls a ‘leap of faith,’ moving to Ibadan to set up an environmental consulting business. Through a process of trial and error, Achenyo decided to alter her original business idea, eventually founding her current company, MitiMeth, in 2011.

MitiMeth produces home and personal accessories made from invasive aquatic weeds that flourish in Nigeria’s waterways. ‘We are all about transforming an environmental problem into a beneficial solution,’ says Achenyo. ‘As a social enterprise that exclusively engages people at the bottom of the economic pyramid, we asked how we can clean up the waterways for river-lying communities, while also empowering them economically.’

So far, MitiMeth has trained people in seven different communities to harvest water hyacinth and weave it into usable products. Looking ahead, it plans to train 80 communities within the next two years in the Niger Delta, the southwest and the northeast of Nigeria. Achenyo also hopes to set up handcraft cooperatives and distribution partnerships while subsidising the costs of product development and training in communities.