Dr Joe Abah is an expert in governance and institutional reforms, political economy analysis and change management. His academic and professional interests focus on how societies can shape their institutions, traditions and governance practices to achieve beneficial development outcomes for their citizens.

Between 2013 and 2017, Dr Abah was the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in the Nigerian Presidency. His work as Director-General shifted the focus of public service reform efforts in Nigeria away from only the public service and started to focus it on to the public itself. This laid the foundation for improvements in citizen-facing services such as passport administration, national identity management, tax administration and drivers licensing.  

Before his appointment as Director General in 2013, Dr Abah led several international development programmes for various donors, including the creation of the Abuja Enterprise Agency that has supported more than 73,000 Nigerians to start businesses, 90% of which are youth. Prior to returning to Nigeria from the United Kingdom in 2003, he was at the forefront of governance reforms in the UK, including driving public service reforms from the Prime Minister’s Office of Public Service Reforms in the UK Cabinet Office.

Dr Abah’s expertise is in demand across the world. In November 2022, he joined the faculty of the School of Government at Oxford University to train the new government of Brazil that took office in January 2023. He was also the 2023 Keynote Speaker at the M.I.T. ‘Africa Innovate Conference’ in April 2023. In December 2023, he was appointed a Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Government Outcomes Lab at Oxford University. In June 2025, he was appointed a Professor of Practice by Miva Open University, Nigeria.

Dr Abah is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. He holds a Ph.D. in Governance and Public Policy Analysis from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and has certificates in Behavioural Science from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and in Finance for Executives from the London Business School.

In May 2023, he was awarded the National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) for services to public service and national development.

Dr Abah is currently the Regional Director for Africa at DAI, a global development company that works with a range of clients in more than 100 countries.