Founderology Forum
Nigerian-native Ada Osakwe, an angel investor and former banker, is bringing her African fast casual concept, Nuli, to Washington, D.C.
Hoping to serve both the immigrant community and a wider American audience, Nigerian-native Ada Osakwe, an angel investor with an MBA from Northwestern, is bringing her 10-unit fast casual African restaurant concept — Nuli — to America by way of Washington D.C. Photos: Nuli
August 13, 2025 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
After years of being underrepresented in the U.S. dining scene, African cuisine is finally stepping into the spotlight, thanks to a new generation of chefs and culinary experts who are sharing its vibrant flavors with the world.
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| Nuli Salad Bowls |
Take, for example, Marcus Samuelsson, a celebrity chef born in Ethiopia, who has long championed African cuisine, and Eric Adjepong, a “Top Chef” finalist and author of “Ghana to the World: Recipes and Stories That Look Forward While Honoring the Past.” Another influential voice is Ozoz Sokoh, known for her blog “The Kitchen Butterfly” and her new book, “Chop Chop Cooking the Food of Nigeria.”
Claire Conaghan, a trendologist and associate director of publications at Datassential, a food and beverage market research firm, said several factors were aligning to bring the diverse flavors of Africa to the forefront, with fast casual restaurants leading the charge.
“Food trends tend to be accelerated by immigration patterns,” Conaghan said in an interview with FastCasual. “When more people from a specific country move to a city, more restaurants open, and the cuisine becomes more accessible.”
That’s what’s happening in Washington, D.C., where the African immigrant population grew 56% between 2000 and 2016.
Hoping to serve both the immigrant community and a wider American audience, Nigerian-native Ada Osakwe, an angel investor with an MBA from Northwestern, is bringing her 10-unit fast casual African restaurant concept — Nuli — to America by way of Washington D.C.
After spending 18 months researching American markets, Osakwe chose the capital city due to the growing immigrant population as well as its large concentration of Millennials and Gen Zs, the chain’s target audience. The menu features African superfoods, including stir-fried bowls with fonio, naan bread wraps and a variety of fresh juices and smoothies.
It’s a smart entry point, said Lino Fabiani, the head of Operations and Data Science of MenuData, a firm using artificial intelligence to provide insights and innovation for food and beverage companies.
“Not only are we seeing it grow on menus overall, but the fact that on surveys, Gen Z is especially interested suggests that this growth will continue for several years, as appeal to the younger generations is a key determinant of future success,” he told FastCasual.
Osakwe said she loved that DC was a melting pot of various cultures, given the high density of international organizations’ HQs and universities.
“Naturally, consumers here have open palates for global flavors and a curiosity to try new cuisine,” said Osakwe, who plans to open 1,000 American units over the next 15 years.
A time for change
Osakwe, who previously worked for the African Development Bank Group, decided to open Nuli after a stint as a special adviser on Investments to Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture.
“Here, I learned how we were spending $10 billion annually importing staple foods that we actually grew locally, making us susceptible to trade shocks and overall food insecurity,” she said. “But even for the things we grew, farmers were faced with high levels of post-harvest losses due to limited demand at the large-scale processing, retail or hospitality levels of the value chain.”
Undeterred by her lack of restaurant experience, she left her finance day job and became a food entrepreneur.
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| The Naanini Wrap was born from Osakwe playing with salad leftovers. |
“I’m just a girl who loves good food and innovating with new culinary approaches,” she said. “I started with the Naanini Wrap that was born from me playing around with salad leftovers at home,” she said. “I went on to develop the entire menu, including naming each product (my favorite part), and I’m so thankful it’s been loved by customers for nearly a decade.”
Although Osakwe is focused on the restaurant business, she hasn’t given up finance, serving as an angel investor in 19 companies led by entrepreneurs from Africa to America.
“I focus my finance efforts on unlocking value from Africa’s food systems, from advising finance institutions on investment structuring to sitting on corporate boards,” she said.
Overcoming challenges to adoption
Although Conaghan said African food is gaining popularity, adoption comes with challenges, including the tendency of Americans to view Africa as a single, monolithic entity.
“Africa is also a large continent that is done a disservice for adoption of trends by thinking of it so broadly, just as Asian food or European food would be harmed, versus focusing on smaller, easier areas to get to know and try,” she said, suggesting that focusing on specific countries or regions is a more effective strategy for introducing these cuisines.
Osakwe, agreed, saying that African cuisine was more than just bold, rich or spicy flavors.
“It’s a melting pot of diverse cultures beyond the countries in Africa, from Indian and Mediterranean to South American and more,” she said. “Nuli celebrates this through culinary exploration and connectivity.”
Fabiani said that while African food is growing on menus, it’s not experiencing explosive growth as a sector.
“We need to distinguish between growth from African restaurants/concepts/chains, and growth of adoption of African ingredients and or menu items by non-African concepts,” he said. “We believe the latter is contributing the most to growth. In fact, we see more growth in African ingredients than in African dishes, suggesting that American (and other) restaurants are experimenting with African flavors and ingredients more, not that more African restaurants are opening.”
Keep it simple or maybe not?
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| The concept serves rice warm bowls, naan flatbread wraps and infuses superfood grains and plants like fonio, moringa, egusi and baobab in dips, juices and smoothies. |
When it comes to successful fast casual models, Conaghan said that simplicity was key and praised Nando’s Peri-Peri, a South African concept focusing on a single, approachable dish: peri-peri chicken.
“This strategy makes it easier for consumers to try something new,” she said. “Generally, any restaurant that focuses on a single country or a single dish is likely to be more easily accepted by people than one that attempts to represent an entire continent.”
That being said, Conaghan revealed that lesser-known North African cuisine (specifically Moroccan flavors) was gaining traction, citing dishes like shakshuka, a one-pan meal featuring eggs poached in a flavorful sauce, and harissa, a hot chili pepper paste, native to the Maghreb.
Harissa is appearing on 3% of menus and predicted to grow by another 23% over the next four years. Shakshuka, which features eggs poached in a flavorful and often spicy tomato and bell pepper sauce, is projected to grow 43% in the same period.
Fabiani agreed that harissa was gaining popularity, but also cited:
- Chermoula, a flavorful North African sauce or condiment originating in Morocco.
- Egusi, a protein-rich, dried and ground seeds of certain melon plants.
- Ogbono, the seeds of the African mango.
- Fufu, a dough-like dish from West Africa made by boiling and pounding starchy ingredients like cassava, plantains or yams.
Conaghan is also keeping a close eye on suya spice, a traditional peanut-based seasoning used for the skewers from West Africa.
“Spice blends and especially those used for very approachable meat on stick applications tend to gain awareness rapidly,” she said, hinting at its potential to become the next breakout flavor.
Nuli uses the flavoring in its Grilled Beef Suya Skewers.
“We present our Africa-inspired menu as wraps, warm bowls, salad bowls, cold pressed juices and smoothies, all concepts Americans are familiar with,” Osakwe said. “But we take it to new levels by amplifying with our African superfood ingredients, giving healthier options that burst with flavor and authenticity.
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| Green Glory Smoothie |
“Think Jollof Rice warm bowls, an ode to the popular West African dish, and Naan flatbread wraps that celebrate India’s centuries-old heritage across Africa. We infuse superfood grains like Fonio across our menu categories and plants like moringa, egusi, baobab and more in our dips, juices and smoothies.”
The future of Nuli
Osakwe plans to open 1,000 U.S. locations over the next 15 years and is exploring other countries in Africa, particularly East Africa, as well as other international lands, including the United Kingdom and the UAE.
“Succeeding in business depends on more than just entrepreneurial grit and preparation; there must also be an enabling operating environment driven by supportive government policies,” said Osakwe, who learned that as part of the Nigerian delegation at the 2024 SelectUSA Investment Summit.
“This exposed me to a network of economic development agencies from all states and territories of the U.S., including the Washington DC Economic Partnership. They were super helpful to us as we navigated sourcing locations as well as state licensing and regulatory requirements.”
About Cherryh Cansler
