Aisha Abubakar is a Nigerian politician. Following the

2015 Nigerian general elections General elections were held in Nigeria on 28 and 29 March 2015, the fifth quadrennial election to be held since the end of military rule in 1999. Voters elected the President and members to the House of Representatives and the Senate. The incu ...

, she was appointed as the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 A ...

in 2015.

Early life and education

Hajiya Aisha Abubakar was born on July 20, 1966, in Dogondaji,

Sokoto State Sokoto State (Hausa: Jihar Sokoto Fula: Leydi Sokoto 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤧𞤮𞥅𞤳𞤮𞥅𞤼𞤮𞥅) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country on the national border with the Republic of the N ...

. She is the daughter of a former finance minister, Abubakar Alhaji. She had her secondary education at Queens College, Lagos between 1978 and 1984. She got her first degree from

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and International Studies between 1987 and 1990. She also earned a Master of Art degree in Development Studies from

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

between 1990 and 1991. She was also appointed to oversee the women affairs as Mrs Aisha Alhassan resigns and will still maintains her position as the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment.

Political career

Abubakar worked at

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...

between 1993 and 1999. She was later appointed Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment in November 2015. In October 2017, she supervised the hiring of an appraising agency by The Bank of Industry (BOI), Nigerian Export-Import Bank and some other government parastatals. During the signing of the MoU, she explained that the aim of the agency was to alleviate the funding of small and medium enterprises in the country. In the same year, she opined that due to renewed interest of government in the agricultural sector, Nigeria's cocoa production will increase by 50% in 2021. Abubakar has also advocated for the unity of Nigeria through diversification across different parts of the country, explaining that educational institutions should build individuals that will aid this diversification. To commemorate International Women's Day 2017, Abubakar empowered 200 women in her home state through resources and skills on new methods of utilizing agricultural produce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abubakar, Aisha 1966 births Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick Buhari administration personnel Politicians from Sokoto State Federal ministers of Nigeria Women government ministers of Nigeria Alumni of the University of Leeds