Hadiza Bala Usman is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree (B.Sc.) in Business Administration, and of the University of Leeds United Kingdom where she obtained a post graduate degree in Development Studies.

Before her appointment as the first female Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in its 63 years of existence, Hadiza Bala Usman worked at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), after which she was hired by the UNDP for the Federal Capital Territory Administration as Assistant to the Minister on project implementation. Her wide-ranging impact on these positions culminated in her appointment as the Chief of Staff to the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, again, the first female to be so appointed in that part of the country.

A receiver of many awards in the areas of governance, girl child education and women emancipation, Bala Usman is Vice President (African Region) for the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH). She is currently pursuing an aggressive 25-year port development plan that would prepare the NPA for the future of the global maritime industry.