Patience Olanitori

Patience Olanitori's interest in doing business in Africa stems from her natural connections to Nigeria. Having been born and partly raised in Nigeria before relocating to the United States, she has always had a desire to move back to Nigeria. Currently, she is a second year MBA student at Columbia Business School (CBS) and her post-MBA plan is to start a business in Lagos, Nigeria.  She is planning on opening an innovative medical center that provides affordable and quality care to patients.

Patience has taken advantage of the many resources at CBS to advance her knowledge and leadership skills necessary to achieve her goal. In terms of knowledge, she has networked with several MBA alumni who have experience in the healthcare field. She has done study tours to Kenya, Uganda and India to better understand business in emerging economies. She also spent almost three months in Lagos interning at a startup to better understand the startup culture there. Additionally, she has taken on many leadership roles at CBS including being the president of the African Business Club and planning the African Economic Forum. Her passion is in healthcare and her goal is to utilize all the experiences she is gaining at CBS to contribute to an Africa with better and more accessible healthcare for all.