Ahmed Shide () is an

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

- Somali politician who is serving as the Minister of Finance since October 2018. He was the Minister of Communication Affairs from April until Abiy Ahmed cabinet dissolved the ministry in October 2018. He was the former chair of the Somali political party of the Somali Regional State. He is a member of the federal parliament and was a member of the ruling party Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party (ESPDP). He is also member of Prosperity Party. He has also been serving as Minister of Finance in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Abiy Ahmed since 2018.

Early life and education

Ahmed Shide was born in Nagele to a less well off Gurre parents belonging to the Madahweyne a subclan of the Dir Somali. Ahmed completed his primary, secondary and tertiary education in Ethiopia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Ethiopian Civil Service College,

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. Shide also holds a Masters of Arts in Participation, Development and Social Change from the Institute of Development Studies,

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

, United Kingdom, Post-Graduate Diploma in Managing Rural Resources and Resource Conflicts from the

Institute of Social Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and MBA from Greenwich University, London, United Kingdom.

Career

Before assuming office as Minister of Finance, Shide served as Minister of Transport and also as Minister of Government Communication Affairs of Ethiopia. Even before that, he served as state minister of the Ministry of Finance and economic development for more than eight years, where he led the countries economic cooperation and regional development and integration agenda. He was the one who championed and spearheaded the economic reform of Ethiopia and contributed to the significant development achievements of the country recorded over the past decades. At the moment he is the one leading the economic reform, which aims at boosting private participation and better economic efficiency. He also served the government at regional state level. Shide also served in

Somali Region The Somali Region (, , ), also known as Soomaali Galbeed () and officially the Somali Regional State, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in eastern Ethiopia. It is the largest region of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian regions ...

major offices during Meles Zenawi premiership, notably the as Chairman of Pastoral Affairs Committee (from March 2003 to September 2004), Head of the President Office (from September 2004 to October 2005) and Head of Civil Service Improvement Bureau (from October 2005 to September 2006). Shide assumed the office of Minister of Finance on 16 October 2018, replacing Abraham Tekeste. By mid-2019, he proposed to parliament 386.9 billion birr ($13.48 billion) in government spending for the 2019/2020 budget. Also during his time in office, Ethiopia announced plans to split its state telecoms provider Ethio telecom into two business units along infrastructure and service sector lines before it is privatized. In late 2020, he oversaw negotiations with the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

on a $2.9 billion programme, one of the biggest in the fund’s history in Africa. In addition to his role in government, Shide has been a member of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

’s (WBG) Advisory Council on Gender and Development. He was recognized as 100 Reputable Africans in 2025.

Other activities

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

(AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (since 2018) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (since 2018)Board of Governors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shide, Ahmed Living people Ethiopian Muslims Finance ministers of Ethiopia 21st-century Ethiopian politicians Ethiopian people of Somali descent Alumni of the University of Greenwich Alumni of the University of Sussex 1977 births