PhDPMP®PMI-ACP®AWS Certified

Nafeesat Rabiu-Adebayo

Program Strategist  |  Evaluation Lead  |  Published Author

I close the gap between what institutions intend and what people on the ground actually experience. From a $16.6M trade program evaluation to nationwide fertilizer distribution to AI-powered content reaching 22 countries, I translate complexity into outcomes.

Featured Case Studies

Delivering impact through program evaluation, product ownership, operations management, and collaborative research.

Bilateral Trade Program Evaluation

$16.6M ProgramUniversity of East Anglia2022–2025

Conducted a full independent evaluation of a $16.6 million bilateral trade facilitation initiative as doctoral research. Designed the evaluation strategy and methodology from scratch, combining a process evaluation grounded in Theory of Change with econometric modeling using augmented gravity models and export performance analysis, all built on an original dataset.

The qualitative component drew on fieldwork across 15 respondents to trace how the program was implemented and where it deviated from its intended design. The analysis surfaced the Aid-for-Trade Paradox: the finding that development aid can simultaneously improve export performance while increasing trade costs, a finding that emerged from the triangulation of quantitative trade data with qualitative fieldwork evidence.

Productive Capacity
Component 1
Economic Infrastructure
Component 2
Trade Policies & Regulations
Component 3
Research Methods & Finding
Gravity ModelEconometricProcess EvaluationTheory of ChangeFieldwork15 RespondentsThe Aid-for-Trade ParadoxAid simultaneously improves export performancewhile increasing trade costsExports ↑Trade Costs ↑

Digital Agriculture Platform for Africa (AgriTech)

Product OwnerOCP Africa & IBM2018–2019

Led the conceptualization and development of an end-to-end digital agriculture platform in partnership with IBM, designed to connect farmers across Africa to inputs, markets, agronomic advice, financial services, and farm management tools. Progressed from Business Analyst to Product Owner over the course of the engagement.

Conducted stakeholder interviews across the full agricultural value chain, including input manufacturers, insurance companies, government ministries, NGOs, farmer groups, distributors, and agrodealers. Participated in design thinking workshops, guided prototype development through daily standups and sprint ceremonies with the IBM technical team, and presented the working prototype to senior government executives. The platform continued development beyond the initial engagement.

5
Platform Domains
OCP + IBM
Cross-Organizational Team
AgriTech Platform
Platform DomainsFarm Inputs • Market Access • Financial Services • Agronomic Advice • Farm ManagementPlatform Features● Farmer Registration & Profiling● Product Catalog & Marketplace● Agrodealer Affiliation System● Order & Quotation Management● Salesman & AEA NetworkStakeholders Engaged● Input Manufacturers● Government Ministries● Insurance & Microfinance● Farmer Groups & Cooperatives● Distributors & Agrodealers

Agribooster Bundled Input Program

Business AnalystOCP Africa2018–2019

Supported OCP Africa's Agribooster initiative, which bundled seeds, fertilizers, and insecticides into single subsidized packages so that smallholder farmers could access all their inputs at once, delivered through one-stop shops staffed with extension agents across northern Nigeria.

Handled the corporate side of the program while two other analysts worked in the field with farmers. Travelled regularly across northern Nigeria to lead stakeholder engagement with state agriculture ministries, farmer cooperatives, input suppliers, and one-stop shop operators, building alignment between groups with very different priorities and incentives.

1000s
Farmers Reached
5+
States Covered
Agribooster Program
Bundled Input ModelSeedsFertilizersInsecticidesCoverage: Northern Nigeria● Bauchi● Kaduna● Kano + othersDelivery ModelOne-Stop ShopsExtension Agents On-SiteSubsidized Pricing

Presidential Fertilizer Initiative

Operations & GPS TrackingTAK Logistics2016–2018

Supervised a team of 10 managing the nationwide transport of urea fertilizer from production sites in Port Harcourt to blending plants across northern Nigeria as part of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, a national fertilizer subsidy program.

Worked with engineers to install GPS tracking routes and identify segments with national security concerns, configuring the system to flag when trucks entered sensitive areas. Managed a real-time control room monitoring daily truck movements from origin to destination, escalating incident reports to management as issues arose during transit. Collaborated directly with security agencies and government parastatals to maintain coordination under political and logistical pressure.

10
Team Members Supervised
Supervised
GPS Tracking Control Room
National
Distribution Coverage
Daily
Monitoring & Escalation
GPS Tracking Control Room
Route MonitoringPHDaily StatusTrucks: In TransitRoute: PH → NorthSecurity Zones: MonitoredOperationsOrigin: Port Harcourt production sitesDestination: Northern blending plants

Multi-City Urban Planning Analysis

7 African CitiesUniversity of ManchesterResearch Collaboration

Contributed to a University of Manchester research collaboration analyzing urban development plans across seven African cities: Cairo, Kampala, Lilongwe, Maputo, Mogadishu, Freetown, and Lagos.

Coded city planning documents against a structured analytical framework, assessing how well each plan addressed governance, infrastructure, trade, climate resilience, migration, and alignment with global development agendas such as the SDGs. The work connected historical planning decisions to present-day urban conditions.

7
Cities Analyzed
80+
Variables Coded
Urban Planning Analysis Framework
Document Coding by CityCairoKampalaLilongweMaputoMogadishuFreetownLagosVariables Assessed● Governance & Institutional Capacity● Infrastructure & Public Services● Trade & Economic Strategy● Climate Resilience● Migration & Demographics● SDG Alignment

Publications

Translating complexity into clarity across economics, culture, and institutional analysis.

Published 2026

The Precious Pearl

Aphorisms of Ancient Arab Wisdom · With Commentary

A translated and annotated collection of over 300 classical Arabic aphorisms originally compiled by Sheikh Muhammad Rabiu Adebayo. This work preserves a family scholarly legacy while making centuries-old wisdom on character, knowledge, patience, and governance accessible to contemporary English-language readers.

Translator and Annotator  |  Available on Amazon  |  350+ pages

Technical Competencies

A comprehensive toolkit built across technology, operations, and development.

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Program Management

  • Portfolio Management
  • Agile / Scrum / SAFe
  • Risk & Dependency Management
  • Budget Ownership
  • Strategic Planning
  • M&E Frameworks
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Project Tools

  • JIRA & Confluence
  • Asana
  • Smartsheet
  • MS Project
  • Trello
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Data & Analytics

  • Power BI & Tableau
  • SQL
  • Excel (Advanced)
  • Python & Stata
  • NVivo
  • Dashboard Design
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Cloud & AI

  • AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda)
  • Generative AI Tools
  • Prompt Engineering
  • AI Content Workflows
  • Process Automation

Professional Certifications

Industry-recognized credentials validating expertise across program management, cloud, and strategy.

PMP®
Project Management Institute
PMI-ACP®
Project Management Institute
Cloud Practitioner
Amazon Web Services
Gen AI for PM
Project Management Institute
Strategic Management
Wharton Business School

Education

A foundation of rigorous academic training across four degrees and three countries.

PhD, Development Economics
University of East Anglia
United Kingdom | 2025
MA, Global Affairs & Human Security
University of Baltimore
USA | GPA: 3.97/4.0
MSc, Agricultural Extension
University of Ilorin
Nigeria | Distinction
BSc, Agriculture (Honours)
University of Ilorin
Nigeria

Let's Connect

Open to program strategy, evaluation, and operations roles across technology, international development, and innovation.

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+1 702-573-0977
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Henderson, Nevada, USA