Dr. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali economist and advisor to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has been named as one of the three most influential people in Africa by the Paris-based ‘Africa Intelligence’ magazine. The magazine, which provides insights on the continent’s political and economic issues, praised Dr. Osman for his role in shaping Somalia’s policies and advancing its regional and international integration.
Dr. Osman, who resides in the United Kingdom, is a member of the government’s National Economic Council and was instrumental in the negotiations that led to Somalia’s admission to the East African Community last year. He is also an advocate for environmental issues and helped his country join the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, a project involving around 20 African nations aimed at the reforestation of desert areas.
The 37-year-old economist has a PhD in conflict resolution from the United Nation’s University for Peace, where he became the regional representative after moving to Somalia in 2018. He launched the presidential PhD scholarship programme, named after the current president and financed by Qatar Charity, to support Somali students pursuing higher education. He also has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Mogadishu University, where he founded the research institute Resilience Innovation Hub, since renamed the Sadar Development and Resilience Institute, of which he is the CEO.
Dr. Osman has been involved in several initiatives to promote innovation and resilience in Somalia and across Africa. Since 2013, he has been the main contact of the Resilient Africa Network (RAN), which with funding from the United States Agency for International Development helped create the inter-agency Somali Response Innovation Lab. The lab supports local innovators and entrepreneurs to develop solutions for the challenges facing Somalia, such as drought, displacement, and insecurity. Dr. Osman also has a double master’s in conflict resolution and in economic policy from Kampala International University and Makerere University, respectively, in Uganda.
Other publications have also acknowledged Dr. Osman’s accomplishments and impact. In the middle of January, he was named as one of the “Top 25 Somalis of 2023” by the monthly ‘5 Magazine’, which praised him as “a national treasure and an international leader in the fields of economic policy, environmental advocacy, and educational empowerment”.
‘Africa Intelligence’ honored Dr. Osman along with Nigeria’s Tolu Obamuroh, a rising star in the legal sphere of Abuja, and Kenya’s Wanjiku Thiga, who is making remarkable progress in fighting against increasing femicide rates. The magazine stated that its weekly selection of influential figures “highlights the varied and vibrant leadership emerging across the African continent”.
