El-Rufai appoints Rajneesh Narula, UK professor, as policy adviser

Nasir el-Rufai, Kaduna state governor, has appointed Rajneesh Narula, a UK professor, as a consultant and policy adviser to the Planning and Budget Commission.

The appointment was announced in a statement signed by Muyiwa Adekeye, special adviser to the governor on media and communication.

According to the statement, Narula, who attended Barewa College Zaria, has a first degree in engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna state, and he also has an MBA and doctorate from Rutgers University, US.

Narula has worked as an engineer at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, and later as a planning analyst at IBM Asia/Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.

He is the John Dunning chair of international business regulation at the Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK, and director of the Dunning Africa Centre in South Africa.

Narula is expected to provide guidance on sector implementation strategies, assist in updating the state’s industrial plan, and provide implementation strategies as well as take the policies to the local government level through the economic planning board.

The professor is said to have over 150 publications on development and industrial policy, roles of foreign investment and global supply chains in development, technology alliances and outsourcing.

“He regularly acts as a consultant and advisor to the European Commission, UNIDO, UNCTAD, OECD, World Bank, as well as a variety of other international organisations, national governments, and consulting firms,” the statement reads.

“He has been involved in advisory activities in Tanzania, Uganda, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Russia, India, Qatar, UAE, Senegal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, in addition to almost all the countries in Europe.

“Prof. Narula is one of the top 20 most cited academic authors worldwide in the fields of international business, emerging markets, and economic development.

“In 2017, he was appointed an officer of the most excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his services to business research. He holds honorary appointments at United Nations University-MERIT, Oxford University, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Urbino.”