VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #2470/01 3421433
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081433Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1730

UNCLAS NAIROBI 002470 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E 
STATE ALSO FOR S/P GREG BEHRMAN AND R/PPR SEHREEN NOOR-ALI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON SOCI EAID KPAO SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - NOMINEES TO THE PRESIDENT'S 
ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT 
 
REF: STATE 112468 
 
¶1.  Post and its Somalia Unit appreciate the opportunity to 
submit Somali entrepreneur nominees to the President's 
Entrepreneurship Summit in Q1 2010 (in para 2).  We chose the 
nominees in consultation with our private sector, NGO and 
civil society partners.  We have also included (in para 3) 
our public diplomacy plan. 
 
Nominees 
-------- 
 
¶2.  Somalia Unit nominees for the Summit follow: 
 
-- Mr. Abdirahman Nur, President/Chief Executive Officer of 
Eastern Television Network.  Mr. Nur is a Somali-Canadian and 
founder of the largest television network in Somalia. 
Previously, he was Vice President of Strategy and Product 
Management at Telecom Somalia, another company he helped 
found.  Nur has bachelor's and master's degrees in 
telecommunications from York University in Toronto. 
 
-- Ms. Alhan Jama, Director, Ismail Import Partners.  Ms. 
Jama is a founder and Hargeisa (Somalia) director of Ismail 
Imports, which opened in 1999.  The company exports 
frankincense resin to Dubai and the United States.  Seeing 
the need for improved education in her home region, she also 
founded Hayaha Elementary School in Erigavo, in the 
Somaliland region of Somalia.  Alhan holds a bachelor of 
science in chemistry from Thiel College, Greenville, 
Pennsylvania.  She is also a certified laboratory technician. 
 
 
-- Dr. Ali Sheikh Abubakar, President, Mogadishu University. 
Dr. Abubakar is a founder of Somalia's largest institution of 
higher learning.  This private, for-profit school has been 
lauded as a bright light in war-torn Mogadishu.  In 1984 Dr. 
Abubakar received his PhD from Medina University in Saudi 
Arabia.  He was Professor of Islamic Civilization at King 
Saud University from 1984-1993 and Director of the Horn of 
Africa Center for Journalism from 1994-1996. Dr. Abubakar is 
the author of six books on Islam in the Horn of Africa. 
 
-- Mr. Farah Abdikadir, Chairman, Somali Institute of 
Management and Administration Development (SIMAD). Mr. Farah 
founded private business school SIMAD 10 years ago. 
Currently the school has 2,200 students studying business 
administration, information technology, and accounting.  Mr. 
Farah holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) in Sharia and Law and MBA 
from Esami and Maastricht (Netherlands) School of Management. 
 
 
-- Mrs. Nasra Malin, Finance Director, Nationlink Telecom. 
Somali native Mrs. Nasra is a co-founder of Nationlink, a 
telecommunications company in Somalia.  She previously served 
as an accountant for Nissan's automotive distributor in 
Somalia.  Mrs. Nasra has a Bachelor of Science in Business 
Administration from Missouri's Jefferson University. 
 
-- Mr. Abdullahi Dirie, Managing Director, Jubba Airlines. 
Mr. Dirie is the largest shareholder and managing director of 
the airline which was founded in 1991.  Jubba is Somalia's 
largest passenger and freight air carrier. Mr. Farah received 
an electrical engineering degree from British Columbia 
University. 
 
-- Mr. Mohamed Abdulahi Sheikh, President of Telecom Somalia. 
 Mr. Sheikh founded Telecom Somalia, the first private phone 
company in Somalia, in 1993.  Telecom Somalia now provides 
cell phone and internet service throughout Somalia.  In 2007, 
he founded DALKOM, which established Somalia's first fiber 
optic landing stations linking to undersea telecommunications 
cables. Mr. Sheikh began his business career in the food and 
beverage sector by opening what has become the largest 
bottling plant of water and carbonated beverages in Somalia. 
 
-- Mr. Abdikadir Hashi, Director General, Qaran Express.  Mr. 
Hashi is the founder of Qaran Express, a money transfer 
company he founded in 2005.  He holds a BA in Education and 
Arabic Language from Sudan's International Africa University. 
 Qaran Express offers money remittance service nationally and 
internationally. 
 
-- Ms Amina Ahmed, Director, Livingcos (K), Ltd. A native of 
Mogadishu, Ms. Amina has a business degree from Mogadishu 
University.  She has 20 years business experience in 
restaurants and international trading.  She founded her 
latest venture, cosmetics importer Livingcos, in 2005. 
 
-- Mr. Hamid Ibrahim, CEO, Bakaal Commercial Brokers.  Mr. 
 
Hamid founded the commercial investment and money transfer 
company.  Previously, he had worked in banking in Australia 
and United Arab Emirates, including ANZ Bank where he was 
senior financial analyst, and Operations Manager for Barwaqo 
Money Transfer Company. Hamid holds an MBA from Wollongong 
University, Dubai. 
 
Public Diplomacy Plan 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  Our PD efforts will highlight the Summit and the themes 
of the Cairo speech with a feature on our Virtual Presence 
Post (VPP) website.  We are hoping Summit organizers will 
broadcast the Summit.  Time zones and technology allowing, we 
hope to mount a DVC between the Somali community in Nairobi 
and the Summit, including a viewing of the President's and 
others' speeches, and discussion sessions afterward.  If 
available, we will participate in DVC sessions with 
Washington officials in the run-up to the Summit. 
 
¶4.  We will encourage media coverage of both the Summit and 
events in advance of the Summit, including gatherings of 
Somalia business leaders we may sponsor.  We will consider a 
small PD grant for the group of Somali nominees to encourage 
the group to remain engaged and reach out to younger, 
less-accomplished entrepreneurs. 
 
¶5.  If one or more Somalis is chosen to attend the Summit, we 
will: 
-- Host a web chat with the Somali participant(s) while they 
are at the summit in Washington, focusing on the U.S. 
recognition of these beacons of hope in a country that has 
suffered nearly two decades of instability. 
-- Host a DVC with the Somali participant(s) while they are 
at the Summit in Washington. 
-- Arrange and facilitate media appearances for the Somali 
participant(s) on Somali media outlets, offering them a 
chance to highlight their participation in the Summit and the 
U.S. commitment to Muslim entrepreneurs. 
-- If appropriate, provide a small public diplomacy grant to 
the entrepreneur for use in a well-branded program linking 
entrepreneurship with the road to recovery for Somalia (e.g. 
a program at Mogadishu University or SIMAD to be conducted by 
the nominees). 
-- During their Summit attendance, have the participant(s) 
perform domestic outreach to the Somali-American community, 
which is highly influential in the ongoing effort to achieve 
peace and stability in Somalia. 
 
RANNEBERGER