Cosmas Maduka (CON, Founder/ CEO of Coscharis Group)

Cosmas Maduka (CON, Founder/ CEO of Coscharis Group).

Cosmas Maduka is the founder and CEO of Coscharis Group. The business mogul, who established Coscharis Motors in 1977, made his first million at age 24.

Born in Nnewi, Anambra State, on December 24, 1958, he began his primary school education but dropped out in elementary three, a few years after losing his father. He had to hawk Akara (bean cake) with his brother to fend for the family.

At age 7, Cosmas was taken to his maternal uncle to serve as an automobile apprentice, where he sold motorcycle parts in Lagos. At 14, he got paid off for daring to close his master’s shop to attend a religious function. He received N200 for his seven years of service. He started buying motorcycle parts and selling. Also, he got goods from Boulus Enterprise, a bicycle and motorcycle marketer.

He established Coscharis Motors in 1977. “Coscharis” is a combination of his name and his wife’s – Cosmas and Charity. The company started the importation and distribution of automobile spare parts, accessories of Japanese vehicles, and other automobile products. In the 1980s, when the Nigerian government decided to grant importation licenses to 10 Nigerian companies, Coscharis was among the selected companies. This was the beginning of a new dawn for Coscharis.

The company is the sole distributor of the BMW brand of vehicles in Nigeria. It also markets other brands such as Jaguar, Range Rover, Rolls Royce, Ford, and Renault. He established Coscharis Motors Assembly Limited in 2014 as a subsidiary of Coscharis Motors. It began the assembling of Ford Rangers (pickup truck) with its first units rolled out in 2015. Under the Coscharis Group are other subsidiaries such as mobility, farm, technology, beverages, and medical and food.

Maduka holds an honorary doctorate degree in Business Administration from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He also became an alumnus of Harvard Business School (Executive Education Program) in 2003. He was awarded the national honor of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2012 by former President Goodluck Jonathan. A director at Access Bank Plc (2000-2012), he also served as the president/chairman of the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation for 16 years.