She received the 1990 African Prize for Leadership and numerous other honours for her work on behalf of economic empowerment of women and families.
In 1943 Nkulenu, using a small financial gift from her aunt and skills acquired at Achimota, began selling marmalade in Accra.
[6][7] Lacking the resources on her own to fulfill the obligations, she took out a loan from a bank and established Nkulenu Industries, the first food processing factory in the Gold Coast.
She was the first person of African ancestry to obtain a cooking diploma from the Good Housekeeping Institute in London and to take the post-graduate Food Preservation Course at Long Ashton Research Station, Department of Horticulture, Bristol University.
In 1964 Ocloo was the first Ghanaian woman to be appointed as Executive Chairman of the National Food and Nutrition Board of Ghana.
Following that, she promoted the availability of credit to women, with small loans known as micro-credit, to stimulate their ability to found businesses.
Making such loans to women was found to strengthen their ability to provide economically for their children and develop their families.