Nisan Abdulkader, dual Yemeni-Kenyan, is a seasoned communications & government advisor having worked in senior public and private sectors roles across the globe including in Tunisia, Kenya, South Africa, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Syria, Italy and Canada. Nisan began her career in advisory roles at UN agencies including Consortium for agricultural research (CGIAR), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy and the United Nations Environment Program in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia. Nisan has also served as the Vice President for Wavteq and the Vice President, Africa & Middle East at the Financial Times Group.
In the course of her career, Nisan has advised over 30 government authorities in Africa on how to best respond to the significant foreign investment opportunity which has created an estimated 50 million high value jobs across sectors like Infrastructure, Agriculture, Healthcare, Tourism, ICT and Manufacturing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nisan has supported key African economic development and investment authority to weather the economic impacts through expert advice & resilience strategies to rebuild emerging economies.
As a dynamic and key expert in the field, Nisan has participated as a panelist and moderator in key global influencing forums and events. She held a directive role at the largest North American African Business Initiative in Montreal, Canada; as well as being invited to speak on multiple global platforms including the BBC Focus on Africa news segments, Harvard, Yale University symposium, Annual Investment Meeting UAE, COMESA Annual Meeting as Chair, Commonwealth Africa Forum, One Africa Network Forum, Global Business Forum in Canada and an initiative by the World Bank, the EI4A –Entrepreneurship for Investment in Africa. Nisan is also a Board Member at Unsolve consultancy, Guul Group & Board President of the Yemeni National Business Council WICCI and on the advisory board of Business Club Africa and four foreign direct investment consultancies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nisan holds the Mary Brooks Law Award, the Social Business Impact Award and the Extraordinary Young 30 Under 30 Award from the Government of Canada.
Nisan Abdulkader holds an honours B.A in Political Science, Management and
International Development Studies from McGill University in Canada and a Diploma of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies from Harvard University. Nisan speaks 6 languages: Arabic, English, Italian, French, Swahili, Spanish.