Meet Dr. Abdu Mukhtar: New Coordinator of ‘Unlocking Healthcare Value-Chain Initiative
Dr. Abdu Mukhtar is an award-winning medical doctor, renowned business strategist and distinguished Abusite who is the immediate past Director for Industrial and Trade Development at the African Development Bank.
Dr. Mukhtar joined the African Development Bank in September 2017. In his role as Director for Industrial and Trade Development, he oversees the implementation of the Bank’s Industrialization Strategy across the African continent, leading teams in industrial policy, trade development, investment climate, and non-sovereign operations spanning industries and services sectors (ICT, Manufacturing, Mining, Oil & Gas, Real Estate, Private Equity, etc.). He also supports the regions in sovereign operations in these sectors.
Dr. Abdu Mukhtar who is also a citizen of the United States of America joined the African Development Bank from the Dangote Group of Industries where he was the Group Chief Strategy Officer from 2014.
In that role, he had assisted the Group President in setting the overall strategic direction for the Company and overseeing key aspects of the strategic planning processes for the group, business units, subsidiaries, and associated companies.
He has also played a key role in driving major activities, projects and initiatives of the Company, including the expansion of cement manufacturing into 18 African countries, a multi-billion dollar Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Plant, plus key joint ventures in Power, Oil & Gas as well as Agriculture Sectors.
Dr. Abdu Mukhtar started his career as a Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health in Kano in 1991 and later worked as a Research Associate at the Boston University Medical Centre in the United States of America where he performed groundbreaking research in the Pulmonary Center and cloned a human gene.
He returned to Nigeria following a two-year tenure as a Management Consultant in the United States.
Between 2003 and 2007 he worked at the Bureau of Public Enterprises in the Presidency, Abuja, as Transaction Advisor and Special Assistant to the Director-General, then as Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Economic Matters in the Federal Capital Territory Administration in Abuja, where he implemented key aspects of the government’s economic reform program.
He was Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the sale of federal government houses thereby raising funds and laying the foundation for Nigeria’s mortgage system.
Between 2007 and 2011, he worked as the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Abuja Investments Company Limited, a Holding Company of the Federal Capital Territory Administration that provides the interface with the Private Sector and manages the Government’s assets and investments in portfolio companies.
In this role, he provided strategic direction, managed day-to-day operations and chaired the boards of a dozen portfolio companies in diverse sectors.
He partnered with both domestic and international investors to develop and execute public-private partnerships to deliver outstanding profitable growth as well as the implementation of major Real Estate Development projects.
He was nominated Nigeria’s CEO of the Year in 2008 by This Day Newspapers.
Dr. Mukhtar holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Ahmadu Bello University School of Medicine, Zaria; a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from the Boston University School of Medicine, USA.
He also holds a Master in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; and a Master in Public Administration degree from Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
He has also attended significant courses in Kennedy School of Government – Harvard University, U.S.A; the Said Business School – Oxford University, UK; and the African Leadership Institute, Cape Town, South-Africa. He was an Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellow.
“I see problems and struggles as opportunities for growth. Obstacles are actually stepping stones for doing things better or creating new ways of doing things. In fact, problems make me excited because I love challenges, and I know that they will make me stronger, bigger and better.” – Dr. Abdu Mukhtar
Dr. Abdu Mukhtar is the recipient of several prestigious awards and was profiled in the “2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century” and the Millennium edition of “Who’s Who in America: Science and Engineering”.
He is a member of the Boston Cancer Research Association, Massachusetts Medical Society, New York Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Gene Therapy and Fellow of the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
On a personal note, Dr. Mukhtar enjoys reading, traveling, non-profit work, community development and sits on the Boards of several non-profit organizations including LEAP Africa, African University of Science and Technology (AUST) Abuja and the Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) Global Advisory Board.
Dr. Abdu Mukhtar’s career shows that it is possible to not only make a living doing what you love but at the same time to have an impact on society. Coupling his passion with a knack for hard work and continual self-development, no problem or challenge has proven too big for him.
President Bola Tinubu on 7th November, 2023 appointed Abdu Mukhtar as the national coordinator of the “Unlocking Healthcare Value-Chain Initiative”. The new initiative is domiciled in the federal ministry of health and social welfare.
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