Phillip Ihenacho
Director
The Museum of West African Art (MOWAA)
Phillip Ihenacho is director of The Museum of West African Art ( MOWAA ) in Benin City, Nigeria.
MOWAA is an independent, non-profit organisation devoted to preserving heritage, increasing knowledge, and celebrating West African arts and culture.
It was established as a catalyst for strengthening links between contemporary arts and the rich cultural heritage of West Africa, creating opportunities for African and Diaspora artists and scholars.
Situated in the centre of Benin City, the MOWAA Campus is a network of buildings and public spaces created to nurture, inspire, and showcase creatives, artists, scholars, and cultural practitioners The MOWAA Institute will be the first of its building to open to the public, and provides 48,000 square feet of space for archaeological research, conservation, art storage, and public programmes.
Founded in 2020, the organisation's key achievements to date include the MOWAA Archaeology Project, one of the first locally-led commercial archaeology projects in Nigeria; a landmark four-year partnership with the British Museum to advance heritage management and archaeology in Nigeria; and the establishment of a Digital Heritage Lab to spearhead the digitisation of Nigerian artefacts, including initiatives focused on Ancient Benin such as Moats Mapping and the Plaques Corpus; among many other notable initiatives.
In addition to his work at MOWAA, Ihenacho is a financier and supporter of arts and nature projects, and has more than two decades of experience in corporate finance, consulting, and operations.
He is a partner at Amaya Capital, a principal investment business focused on projects and businesses in Africa with the potential to become impactful, large-scale, platform enterprises through development and/or acquisition opportunities.
He is also a board member and founder of the nature conservation organisation Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation, and is also an ambassador for the Tusk Trust, a UK-based conservation organisation.
Ihenacho's previous experience includes serving as CEO of UBA Capital Europe Ltd (formerly Afrinvest UK) and working at McKinsey & Company in New York, London, Stockholm and Johannesburg.
He was awarded a Doctor of Law from Harvard and a degree in history from Yale University.
