The award which is in its 13th year, is chaired by retired High Court judge, Dame Linda Dobbs. On hearing that he had been named the most powerful black person in the UK, an ecstatic Ahmed declared, “it is a real privilege and honour to win this award. When I was growing up in Somaliland, I saw how money sent back home by migrants could transform the lives of individuals and entire communities. When I came to London to study and started to send money back home, I was frustrated by the inconvenience and cost of transferring money through traditional agents.”
He then made it his mission to “find a better way” to make that process as efficient as possible. Ismail Ahmed, originally from Somalia, founded the money transfer company in 2010 with the compensation he got from the UN for exposing corruption in Somalia.
