Nmadili Okwumabua

Nmadili Okwumabua is an Urban Planner, Professor of African Architecture and Urban Design. Her passion for design is rooted in a vision where communities in Africa and the Diaspora are developed with new architectural languages that celebrate the aesthetics and culture of the people today.  In 2005, she founded Southern Sahara USA, a design consultancy service specializing in the research and development of this new architecture, which she promotes through exhibitions and  lectures. Nmadili Okwumabua attended the University of Tennessee and Georgia State University, where she pursued her undergraduate studies in architecture and urban planning. Her career as a built environment professional spans over 20 years. She is a licensed Realtor in the state of Georgia and Certified Property Manager with Broll CBRE South Africa. She holds a masters degree in African Studies from Clark Atlanta University, where her research centred on the evolution of modern vernacular architecture in Nigeria. In 2013, the fruits of these efforts gave birth to the Community Planning & Design Initiative, Africa, (CPDI Africa), a research-based, culture-inspired initiative created to develop this new architectural language for Africa though design competition. Believing that the redevelopment of Africa’s built environment should be as it has always been, built as a collaborative effort between the community members and designated master builders, Ms. Okwumabua engages participation from the design community in Africa and the Diaspora at large, for the accomplishment of the CPDI Africa vision. Nmadili Okwumabua lives in Atlanta Georgia and Abuja Nigeria, where she offers international consultancy services in urban design and real estate asset management,  passionately sharing her vision with the future shapers of Africa’s built environment.