Cosmas Maduka hawked akara at six, after his father died. He founded Coscharis Motors with 300 naira.
A failed first start-up and a dismissal at 17 did not stop Cosmas Maduka. The Coscharis Group now distributes major car brands and runs farms.
Cosmas Maduka was born in Jos in 1958. His entrepreneurial journey began at six, two years after his father died. He dropped out of primary school and started hawking akara, the bean cake that is a Nigerian staple, to support his mother.
Setbacks, then a start
At 17 he was dismissed, with 200 naira, by an uncle who had engaged him as an automobile apprentice, a dismissal he says was wrongful. He co-founded a spare-parts company called CosDave with a friend, but the startup failed sooner than expected. In 1977 he founded Coscharis Motors with 300 naira, focused on automobile spare parts. The name combines his first name, Cosmas, and that of his wife, Charity.
The breakthrough
His breakthrough came in 1982, when the government granted import licences to ten motor companies and Coscharis was selected. In 2015 Coscharis Motors became the sole distributor of BMW in Nigeria and the first company to build a Ford Ranger assembly plant in the country. In 2016 Anambra State approved 5,000 hectares for Coscharis Farms to grow rice, a project reported to generate 3,000 jobs.
Maduka credits his early contact with Japanese people for teaching him commitment, humility, precision and hard work. The Coscharis Group now spans manufacturing, ICT, petrochemicals, auto components, automobile sales, agriculture and agro-allied businesses.
