# Mohamed Abshir Waldo (Maxamed Abshir Waldo)

> Mohamed Abshir Waldo: Somali broadcaster, SSDF official, writer on remittances and piracy.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-abshir-waldo/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was he?

Mohamed Abshir Waldo was a Somali journalist and political activist ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Abshir Waldo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Waldo)). He grew up herding camels and went on to Columbia University, where he earned an MA in mass media from the journalism school in 1968 (same source).

## Broadcasting

He started as a radio journalist with the BBC World Service and became director of the Somali Broadcasting Service, the main government broadcaster, in the 1960s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Waldo)).

## SSDF

In the 1980s he became information minister for the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), an armed opposition movement, and briefly served as its head ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Waldo)).

## Writing

Drawing on development work in micro-finance and small business, he wrote extensively on the Somali remittance industry, and also wrote on the root causes of piracy off the Somali coast ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Waldo)). See [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/).

## In short

A broadcaster who ran Somali radio in the 1960s and later wrote on remittances and piracy.

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