About me

I am the Head of State Fragility Initiative (SFi) at the International Growth Centre (IGC), based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in partnership with Oxford University. The IGC connects leading researchers and in-country teams across Africa and South Asia to deliver demand-led policy advice grounded in frontier research.

The State Fragility Initiative builds on the work of the LSE–Oxford Commission on State Fragility, Growth, and Development, advancing actionable recommendations to help countries exit fragility. I lead the initiative’s strategy and ensure its impact at national, regional, and global levels, including close engagement with funders. Our work spans:

• National-level engagements with policymakers in countries at pivotal moments—most notably Yemen.

• DFI Fragility Forum, convening development finance institutions to boost job-creating private investment in fragile and conflict-affected environments.

• Energy access in fragile settings, scaling investments to expand sustainable energy.

• Thematic leadership on state fragility across the wider IGC network.

Beyond my role at IGC, I am deeply committed to policymaking in fragile and conflict-affected states, with a particular focus on Somalia’s economic development. In November 2022, I was appointed to Somalia’s National Economic Council (NEC) by presidential decree, serving as National Economic Advisor until 2026. The NEC plays a central role in shaping Somalia’s economic strategy and recovery.

In this capacity, I work with government leaders, international partners, and development experts to design evidence-based policies that foster inclusive growth, strengthen resilience, and mitigate vulnerabilities. Between January 2023 and June 2025, I led the team that developed Somalia’s Centennial Vision 2060 (CV2060) - a long-term roadmap for stability and prosperity.

Explore my writing on economic reforms, resilience, and state fragility in Somalia:

👉 Read the Blog here:https://abdilahi.substack.com/

Contact details:

Email: A.Ali49[at]lse.ac.uk or abdilahi.ali[at]theigc.org or abdilahi.ali[at]nec.gov.so

Public profiles:

IGC: https://www.theigc.org/people/abdilahi-ali

NEC: https://nec.gov.so/teams/abdilahi-ali/

Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com › abdi-ali-5b632416a

Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Abdilahi_Ali

Ideas.repec profile: https://ideas.repec.org/f/pal833.html

Researcher ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5398-0450

Google Scholar: 

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4uni1_UAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao