#AhmedShide: #Ethiopia’s Finance Minister Wins 2020 Africa #Award

By Arraale M Jaama Freelance Journalist and Human Rights Activist based in Hargeisa Somaliland

Addis Ababa (ANN) – The African Investment Forum (AFSIC) has announced that Ethiopian Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide has won the 2020 Africa Business Leadership Award.

This was announced by the editorial board of the African Leadership Magazine, which also announced the evaluation of the 17 categories of the African Business Leadership Award for 2020.

Ahmad Shide won the Award in African Finance Minister of the Year Category, according to a statement from the Magazine.

The magazine has also awarded 15 other winners of the year in different categories that include African Inspirational Business Leadership, African Business Leader of the Year, Central Bank Governor of the Year, COVID-19 Response Business Hero, and African Female Business Leader of the Year and Young Business Leader of the Year Categories.

Publisher of the Magazine, Dr Ken Giami, said while unveiling the list of winners, “Our winners and all the nominees truly deserve to be recognized for the outstanding work they have done over the last year, and they continue to do for the development of our continent.”

The African Business Leadership Awards is a prestigious recognition event to reward exceptional corporate practices and outstanding achievers in Africa’s business landscape and its private sector.

The Winners emerged through a 3-step points-based selection process that included a call for nomination; a call for online voting for shortlisted nominees; and the editorial board’s final review of the nominations and voting submissions, the statement further indicated.

The winners shall be presented with an award trophy and formally decorated with the instruments of the honor at the 5th US – Africa Investment Forum and Policy Dialogue 2020 (virtual), scheduled to hold (Via Zoom) from September 29th – 30th, 2020.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Finance Minister Ahmed Shide, who won the 2020 Africa Business Leadership Award, is the highest-ranking Somali official in Ethiopia, a position he has held until 2018, after the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed excluded his predecessor Hailemariam Desalegn.

Ahmed Shide wins 2020 Africa Business Leadership Award. by Araweelo News Network.

Ahmed Shide, a former Ethiopian Minister of Transport and Communications, is the leader of the ruling Somali Regional State of Ethiopia.

Somalis in Ethiopia often do not hold positions in the central government at the federal level, without political influence, or in the name of the Somali people in the country, but Ahmed Shide is the second most influential man in Somali politics. in Ethiopia, preceded by Dr. Abdimajid Hussein was influential before his death in Ethiopian politics, during the Ethiopian government’s federal system of self-government in the 1990s.

 

However, Ahmed Shide, who competed for the award with many African ministers, came out on top after tackling the financial crisis caused by covid-19. according to the popular Financial Times.

 

Ahmed Soliman, a researcher at Chatham House’s Africa, described Ahmed Shide as a knowledgeable man who could make Ethiopia a regional investment hub, benefiting regional ports such as Djibouti and Somaliland.

 

“Ethiopia wants to be an export hub in the Horn of Africa region and wants to bring this work to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland, to make its export services more competitive,” he said.

The success of Ahmed Shide’s award has been described as highly predictable, given his role in regional economic integration and how to protect his country’s trade in the face of ongoing conflict and conflict in his country and COVID-19. There will be no such decline in the Ethiopian economy.

 

It is not the first time such an award has been won by Minister Shide since he was appointed Minister of Finance by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, but in late 2019 Ahmed Shide was named the best Minister of Finance in Africa.

By Arraale M Jaama Freelance Journalist and Human Rights Activist based in Hargeisa Somaliland.

Email: Jaamac132@gmail.com