Abdiweli Mohamed Ali

Abdiweli Mohamed Ali عبدالولي محمد علي
Prime Minister of Somalia
In office 19 June 2011 – 17 October 2012
President	Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Muse Hassan Abdulle (Acting) Mohamed Osman Jawari (Acting) Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
Preceded by	Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo
Succeeded by	Abdi Farah Shirdon
Personal details
Born	(1965-07-02) 2 July 1965 Dhusamareb, Somalia
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	Somali National University Vanderbilt University Harvard University George Mason University
Religion	Islam
Website	Official website

Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali ( pronunction  ahb-dee-WEHL-ee moh-HAM-mehd AH-lee Somali: Cabdiweli Maxamed Cali, Arabic: عبدالولي محمد علي‎) is a Somali economist and politician. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Somalia.

Biography

Personal life

Ali is originally from the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia. He holds both Somali and American citizenship. He is multilingual, being fluent in Somali, Arabic, Italian and English.

Ali is married to Dr. Hodan Isse, a University at Buffalo Economics professor and founder of HEAL, a Buffalo-based NGO. The couple have four children.

Education

Ali was educated in various universities around the world, but initially studied in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. In 1984, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the Somali National University, graduating with highest honors.

Ali later relocated to the United States for post-graduate studies. In 1988, he obtained a Master's degree from Vanderbilt University as an AFGRAD Fellow of Economics. Between 1994-1995 and 1995-1998, he was a Bradley Fellow in George Mason University's Department of Economics and Center for Study of Public Choice, respectively. In 1998-1999, Ali was a Joel Fellow of Political Economy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he earned a Certificate of Taxation from Harvard Law School in 1999 and a Master's degree in Public administration the same year. In 2000, he also obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University.

Career

General

In a professional capacity, Ali served as a Director in the Excise Tax Department of Somalia's federal Ministry of Finance and Revenue in the mid-to-late 1980s. Between 1988 and 1991, he was an Assistant Director in Research and Statistics at the Ministry of Finance and Revenue.

From 1993 to 1998, Ali was an Adjunct Professor of Economics in the Department of Social Science and Public Service of Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia. Between 1998 and 1999, he was a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID).

In the 2000s, Ali worked as a Research and Forecast Manager for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

He later moved to Niagara County in New York state, where he was an Associate Professor of Economics in the Department of Commerce of Niagara University, having joined the school in 2003.

Ali also served as a consultant for various international organizations, including the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program.

His main academic areas of concentration have been in public finance, public choice and international trade. Ali's current research endeavors have centered around the impact that institutions have on economic growth.

Ali has written articles for many peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Business and Economics Research, International Advances in Economic Research, and the Journal of Public Choice. In 2001, a paper of his titled Political stability, stable economic policies and growth: An empirical investigation that was published in the Atlantic Economic Journal was awarded the year's Best Article Award.

Ali is also an active member of various economic organizations, including the International Atlantic Economic Society, the American Economic Association and the Southern Economic Association.

Transitional Federal Government

On June 12, 2010, Ali was appointed the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation as well as one of several Deputy Prime Ministers. Selected for the position by the former Premier Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, he served as an integral part of a technocratic Cabinet.

Prime Minister

Appointment

On June 19, 2011, Ali was appointed the Acting Premier of Somalia after Prime Minister Mohamed abruptly resigned from office as part of a controversial agreement signed in Kampala between the President and the Parliament Speaker. A few days later, on June 23, 2011, Ali was named permanent Prime Minister.

Lawmakers welcomed Ali's nomination and reaffirmed their opposition to and intention of repealing the Kampala Accord.

In a session held on June 28, 2011, Members of Parliament overwhelmingly approved Ali's appointment as Prime Minister. 337 of the MPs endorsed the selection, while 2 voted against it and 2 abstained.

On July 23, 2011, Parliament unanimously endorsed Prime Minister Ali's selection of new Cabinet officials. The ministerial posts were expanded to include an additional 9 state ministers and 26 deputy ministers, bringing a total of 53 federal ministers.

2011 drought

On July 4, 2011, in one of his first policy initiatives, Prime Minister Ali appointed a national committee to tackle the severe drought that was then affecting large parts of the country and the larger East Africa region. The committee consisted of several federal-level members of government, including the Ministers of Defense, Health, Interior, Finance, Public Works, Women's Affairs and Information. It was tasked with assessing and addressing the needs of the drought-impacted segments of the population.

Special Force

In August 2011, Prime Minister Ali announced the creation of a new Special Force (SP) division of the Somali National Army (SNA). Consisting of 300 trained soldiers, the unit was initially mandated with protecting relief shipments and distribution centers in Mogadishu. Besides helping to stabilize the city, the new protection force was also tasked with combating banditry and other vices.

Linda Nchi

In October 2011, a coordinated operation between the Somalian military and the Kenyan military referred to as Linda Nchi began, with Kenyan troops crossing the border into southern Somalia in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants that are alleged to have kidnapped several foreign tourists and workers inside Kenya. Prime Minister Ali along with President of Somalia Sharif Ahmed initially opposed the deployment of Kenyan troops into the country, as they felt it was a breach of an earlier joint defence pact reached with the Kenyan government that limited Kenya's support to logistical activities. On October 31, a Somalian delegation led by Prime Minister Ali met in Nairobi with the Kenyan Premier Raila Odinga and other government officials to iron out differences and to outline a joint strategy vis-a-vis Operation Linda Nchi. After lengthy talks, the delegations issued a joint communique pledging coordinated military, political and diplomatic support for the mission, requesting that AMISOM peacekeepers police areas captured from Al-Shabaab, and that the International Criminal Court (ICC) begin formal investigations against the group's commanders. In addition, Prime Minister Ali urged the international community to support the joint operation, and stated that the mission "would be led by Somali forces with support of Kenyan forces". The two delegations also formed a joint high-level co-ordinating committee to maintain regular contacts between their respective governments.

In early June 2012, Kenyan forces were formally integrated into AMISOM. Analysts expect the additional AU troop reinforcements to help the Somali authorities gradually expand their territorial control.

Marine forces

On August 7, 2012, Prime Minister Ali announced that his government was set to re-establish the Somali Navy, which had disbanded shortly after the outbreak of the civil war in the early 1990s. Speaking to reporters in the capital, the Premier indicated that his administration wanted to create a well-trained national marine force capable of efficiently patrolling Somalia's territorial waters and putting an end to the illegal plunder of the country's resources by foreign companies and nations. He also indicated that he had asked the international community to support the Somali government's extant efforts aimed at developing its maritime defensive capacity, including the possibility of acquiring speed boats and warships to more effectively secure the country's extensive seaboard.

Post-transition Roadmap

Prime Minister Ali has been credited with devising the formal "Roadmap for the End of Transition", a political process which provides clear benchmarks leading toward the establishment of permanent democratic institutions in Somalia by August 20, 2012, when the Transitional Federal Government's mandate expires.

In February 2012, the Premier and other Somali government officials met in the northeastern town of Garowe to discuss post-transition political arrangements. After extensive deliberations attended by regional actors and international observers, the conference ended in a signed agreement between Prime Minister Ali, TFG President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamud Farole, Galmudug President Mohamed Ahmed Alim and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a representative Khalif Abdulkadir Noor stipulating that: a) a new 225 member bicameral parliament would be formed, with a lower house and an upper house seating 54 Senators; b) 30% of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) is earmarked for women; c) the President is to be appointed via a constitutional election; and d) the Prime Minister is selected by the President and he/she then names his/her Cabinet.

On June 23, 2012, the Somali federal and regional leaders met again and approved a draft constitution after several days of deliberation. The National Constituent Assembly overwhelmingly passed the new constitution on August 1, with 96% voting for it, 2% against it, and 2% abstaining.

2012 presidential elections

In early August 2012, Prime Minister Ali officially announced his intention to present himself as a presidential candidate in Somalia's upcoming 2012 elections. Speaking before a gathering of hundreds of supporters in Mogadishu, Ali highlighted his administration's various achievements during its brief tenure, saying that "if you appreciate all the hard work and the national obligations done by my government then you will be giving me your votes."

Ali was among the four contestants that made it to the second round of voting. However, he and another candidate subsequently dropped out, leaving former TFG president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to contest the presidency with the eventual winner, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

End of term

Ali's term as Prime Minister of Somalia ended on 6 October 2012, when newly-elected President Mohamud appointed entrepreneur and economist Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid to the office.

Awards

• 2005-2006 Excellence in Research Award, College of Business Administration, Niagara University, May 2006.
• Best Paper Award, European Applied Business Research Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, June 2004.
• 2003-2004 Excellence in Research Award, College of Business Administration, Niagara University, May 2004.
• 2001 Best Article Award, Atlantic Economic Journal, October 2002.

Works

Refereed publications

• "How robust is the effect of foreign aid on growth" with (Hodan Isse and Bill Peek), Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 20, pp. 4-14, Fall 2009 (Lead Article).
• "The determinants of crime in Virginia: An empirical analysis" (with Bill Peek), forthcoming in Contemporary Issues in Educational Research, Vol. 2 (4), pp. 1-11, 2009 (Lead Article).
• "Is democracy a prerequisite for political stability?", International Business and Economics Research Journal, October 2004, Vol. 3 (10), pp. 39-47, Won the Best Paper Award.
• "Determinants of economic corruption: A cross-country comparison" (with Hodan Isse), Cato Journal, Winter Issue 2003, Vol. 22 (3), pp. 449-64. Cited by 58.
• "Institutional distortions, economic freedom and growth" (with Mark Crain), Cato Journal, Winter Issue 2002, Vol. 21 (3), pp. 415-26. Cited by 63.
• "Political regimes, economic freedom, institutions and growth" (with Mark Crain), Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, 2001, Vol. XIX (1), pp. 3-22, Lead Article. Cited by 13.
• "Political stability, stable economic policies and growth: an empirical investigation", Atlantic Economic Journal, March Issue 2001, Vol. 29, pp. 87-106. Won the 2001 Best Article Award. Cited by 13
• "Economic freedom, democracy and growth", Journal of Private Enterprise, 1997, vol. 13, pp. 1-20, Lead Article. Cited by 30.

Refereed conference proceedings

• "Is Democracy a Prerequisite for Political Stability?" (Won the Best Paper Award), European Applied Business Research Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, June 14-18, 2004.

References

• Abdiweli Mohamed Ali - Curriculum vitae

Political offices
Preceded by Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo 31 Oct 2010 – 19 Jun 2011	Prime Minister of Somalia 2011–2012	Succeeded by Abdi Farah Shirdon